A New Journey
by Beyond Dimensional
Summary: Madara Uchiha, having become the host for Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, wakes once again to a cruel reality. Determined to find a new path, he pushes forward not willing to let everything be in vain. He may actually stand a chance against the odds, but all is not as it seems and Madara discovers, that he knows...nothing.
1. Inspiration In The Dark

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 **Madara: The New Plan**

A drop of water splashing down in a singular lasting drip is heard by one, and one alone. In a void of absolute darkness, the legendary shinobi Madara Uchiha awakens, his eyes snapping open in a panic and his breath turning into large desperate gasps.

He quickly turns his focus inwards and away from the deep primal nightmares that had snapped him from his sleep to steady the rhythmic pounding of his heart and the throbbing of his mind. In rapid succession he glances around, unable to tell if he's lost his sight or if this place is void of light.

For whatever reason it may be, it still didn't change the fact that unyielding darkness surrounds him, not giving token to any light. He remains laid out, on a bed of sorts – although he couldn't know for sure – feeling his breath, his heartbeat, and even the blood flowing through his veins, he manages to calm himself down for valuable thought to begin to churn.

In a more relaxed state, the silence sinks in. It's peaceful, why that's the case, eludes him. It's a strange sensation, this faultless silence. He's calmed by its embrace like he's experienced a lifetime of conflict, however, simply being calm doesn't describe it, it's something deeper and more substantial.

He doesn't remember anything though, and that very notion causes him to wonder why. Moments pass like sand in an hourglass before he looks up and glances around again with vague hopes his vision acclimated in that time. It's to no avail, he can't see even a lick of detail.

This is especially strange as normally the Rinnegan's visual prowess allows the user to see no matter the situation, regardless of light. Far from the Rinnegan limits, however.

If a true owner is in possession of the Rinnegan, they would soon learn to even see into other realities and dimensions, places one could never hope to reach. This very fact is also the reason – out of the very few Rinnegan to exist – those in possession of their original eye will hold a special ability.

Truly out of all these special abilities, Madara's alone stands at the top. The limbo clones, invisible beings that exist in a parallel universe, unkillable, completely immune to physical touch and damage, but able to interact with this universe at will, not only that, they also take on Madara's physical resistances and traits and can use all of his abilities.

They are capable of much more than that when creativity is involved, but more importantly, they are unlike the lesser clones that most jutsu produce, these are different, they reflect the chakra of the original. In addition, when these clones sink up with the original body, they regain their chakra and nullify any physical damage taken.

This ability is so powerful that Madara - if he currently remembered any of this - would testify to the self-handicaps placed upon himself. Never abuse the many powers he possesses, lest he grows overreliant on his unbeatable power.

It'd seem silly to countless people to not use such power in an attempt to change the entire world, but, it's something he decided shortly after the day he lost Izuna - his brother.

That time so long ago, Madara spent the coming days before the battle that Izuna lost his life in, not training Izuna as he commonly did prior battles, but honing his own skills so to finally beat his rival Hashirama. Ironically, in the battle, he had the advantage and would have finally won, but his brother was killed by Tobirama before he could win his own battle.

He had thought after Izuna unlocked the Mangekyou Sharingan that he wouldn't need to train him this time, that he would be able to beat Tobirama with the power only an Uchiha could wield. It just so happened, that Hashirama did the opposite. Hashirama reduced his own training to train Tobirama, to help develop a new technique, that same technique killed Izuna.

Fear of the unknown, it's a common fear. It's such that many fear the darkness, darkness, after all, can hide many things. A normal person would fear this situation, not find solace in it as Madara does, but for that matter what even is normal, he didn't understand that either but he knew what it should be like.

Upon realizing this lack of fear and continued failure to see anything, he frowns. "Where am I?" The voice that leaves him seems to linger about, echoing into the void in multiple darkening and unfamiliar tones with a hint of agitation.

With a shake of the head, he picks himself up. Pain, even when slowly and carefully moving his legs over the edge of the bed his body aches in protest. Who did this to him, what drove them to trap him here alone and with no memory, what cruel being would do such a thing, or perhaps he did this, is he that cruel being?

He realizes this line of thought is irrelevant. He has no answers and so he relaxes his weary head into stable and supportive hands. His fingers digging across his eyebrows – just under his third eye – as he slumps down further and lets out a long slow sigh, his white lower back length hair falling forward to cover his face like a holy curtain, though it's all shrouded in darkness.

He's mentally and physically exhausted, his body as if weighted down by a planet on each shoulder, and his mind warped. "What happened?" He tries to think back. A tear makes it's way down his cheek and again his thoughts try to linger to why, yet, he can't recall.

He searches the innermost parts of his mind for an answer to this predicament and it felt like it was just out of sight, there has to be something. It proves pointless, there's nothing. He's unable to remember anything, not his name, not how he got here, just the feeling of emptiness that remains in an empty husk with no reason to exist.

But then as all hope of remembering seems lost, a throbbing pain abruptly enters his mind. Not dissimilar to a wave, memories flow back into their tortured owner. His face contorts into one of sheer agast, his mouth slightly parted and his eyes not wide open but filled with emotion and shock.

"That's right, I lost." He affirms in utter devastation as he closes all three of his eyes shut.

He remembers everything and now he wishes he stayed ignorant: his time with Hashirama during the warring states period, creating the Hidden Leaf village, leaving the aforementioned village, manipulating and starting the Fourth Great Shinobi War from the shadows, and even the bitter end with Black Zetsu, all of it.

It's true, he has lost everything. Mere moments ago at the pinnacle of his power, having just accomplished his long sought-after dream of launching the Infinite Tsukuyomi to bring true peace to the world, he suffered a devastating and unseen betrayal at the hands of someone who he thought to be his very own will incarnate, but no, it all turned out to be a lie.

Black Zetsu was not his will – not in the slightest – but one belonging to that of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, and the Infinite Tsukuyomi was a farce hiding it's true intentions behind the ideal that he strived so desperately to make a reality.

Even if he wanted to scream the unfairity of this atrocious betrayal to the heavens, it would make no difference, it's simply another ruthless practicality of his reality. Why would anything be treated differently than the back-stab that pierced through him in ruthless fashion? In the end – unbeknownst to him – Kaguya was revived using him as a vessel.

Be it a sick twisted joke or a cruel reality is irrelevant, it's over. "Was it all for nothing?" Mortified and regret creeping in, he reflects on his choices in life.

He was so powerful, and he had done so much in order to reach that point. He'd sacrificed so much and he did such wrong under the pretense that the end goal justified the means, but now he has nothing to show for it and this sickens him immensely.

Everything he built had fallen in one swift action. "I was just a pawn in someone's game." His left-hand tightens around his broken head-crest as his right-hand digs into his hair as he speaks again in a tone of finality. "I was never set up to succeed, to begin with. The Infinite Tsukuyomi was a lie. I spent my life, chasing, a lie." He drags out the last word.

Having trouble coming to terms with this betrayal and wanting to focus on something other then his inner thoughts at the moment, he puts it on the back burner and opens his eyes once more to look at his surroundings, however unlike before – even if it's only slightly – there are things to be seen, slight shapes taking form in the dark.

This sign of progress sparks something within him, he doesn't want to give up. With this new vision, he can see the bed to which he's resting on; it holds carvings of some sort on the sides of the wood frame that are holding it together. Trepidly tracing his fingers on it – as it's still too dark to see in full detail – his eyes widen.

He stumbles out, "That ancient Uchiha ceremonial bed?!" as he recognizes the pattern

Ignoring his exhausted body, he jumps down from the bed and into ankle deep water that splashes at his arrival – which normally would have aroused his curiosity, however, his focus is drawn elsewhere.

Turning around and looking at the bed, it causes him to reflect on something if his expression is anything to go off.

"My mother's deathbed." His eyes are cast down as he verifies this in a saddening voice. He finds this odd, after all, why would anything that belongs to his long-dead mother be doing here – wheresoever here is for that matter? It perplexed him for a moment, then he understood.

A mindscape, a place one can visit with semi-difficult mental discipline or when on the verge of death, he assumes this reason was the latter.

In a singular and solemn tone, he gives a pitiable laugh as he talks to a being not here. "I guess it's not surprising, that I would see something like this. The regret I feel now, it's overwhelming. I couldn't save anything. I was too weak to protect what I held dear, and I broke my promises to you…"

Pausing, he turns his head to the side in something akin to shame and continues. "...And now, I even failed to bring peace to the world. For all my power and intelligence what am I? I really am just a bitter loser, a failure."

"And is that it then?" An angelic voice that resembles a female echoes around him in a mockery-like tone.

Upon hearing this voice, his head snaps toward the main source of the sound. On the other side of the bed, there's a white light taking form and growing in intensity. This light takes the outline of something humanoid, it's as bright as the sun and it floods the dark and damp room in bathing light, turning shades of black into white.

Some part of him deep down momentarily and perhaps childishly believes it to be God, here to punish him for his wrongdoings and failures, but that notion quickly is replaced with an anger, a final primordial struggle to survive.

There's no way he's going down, at least not without a fight. Even broken he will always find the will to fight on, to the end if need be. He rears back into a fighting stance, attempting to channel his chakra and summon his Truth-Seeking staff, he's unable to do either.

"Who's there?!" He tries to open a dialogue as he readies for a fight. The light responds by bearing down on his position almost instantaneously. He shields his vision, the light becoming too strong as it swallows him in a blinding wave of warmth.

 **...**

The Light clears in a matter of seconds, leaving Madara on a wooden walkway. Snapping his head around he sees an indoor garden, inside what looks like an Edo period style compound.

His face scrunches into one of confusion, he recognizes this place, it's the Uchiha compound from his childhood. The sun is shining its last rays of the day, it's warm and comforting, like a blanket, and the water running along the rocks creates a calming sound; it's perfect, just as he remembers.

He puts away his confused expression to appreciate the fact that he's no longer in the two extremes of absolute darkness and blinding light. Inspecting himself, he sees that not much has changed: adorned in long white and black robes, skin still pale, hair still pure white, yet his heartbeat and steady breathing from earlier are no longer.

That which alarms him is not his inherent lack of a heart, lungs, or any other internal organ besides a brain – that was typical once one becomes the Ten-tails Jinchūriki after all – it's that he felt like he had them earlier.

There's a neurological phenomenon that can happen when one finds themselves suddenly detached from a limb. It causes them to feel what is typically known as a shadow limb.

This crosses his mind as he's experienced a similar phenomenon before. However, there is rarely something that affects him twice. That is not a statement made from arrogance; he's honed his senses masterfully so, over the decades, nothing escapes his attention anymore.

This could very well be an exception due to his lack of memory at the time, only deep seeded recollection of his former self-remaining, allowing him to experience this feeling once more.

Before he can put any more thought behind this topic, a screeching sound infiltrates his ears, causing him to slightly cringe as for the past moments he's heard nothing but absolute silence and the dark echoes of his own voice.

At first, it's unclear whether this piercing sound is that of an animal or something else, but it soon focuses on the recognizable sound of a crying infant. He turns around, able to tell that the sound is coming from an open door along the path.

He trepidly walks along the garden path towards the door, the bamboo floor creaking at each cautious step. A woman dressed in a nurses uniform suddenly leaves the room as he's making the final approach. He stops, certain that he's already been seen and waiting for her reaction.

A young boy is pulled from behind the woman by his hand, a noticeable frown on his face and his cheeks puffy and red, as if he was crying recently.

As he sees this child time seems to freeze around him, he definitely recognized the young boy and every doubt is cast aside as the nurse says his name."Come Izuna, you need to let your mother rest." The nurse tells the boy while looking down upon him with an expression that possesses well-hidden sadness only a trained eye could recognize.

"But big brother doesn't have to leave. Why do I?" Resistant in his walk, the now named Izuna starts to beg with his frown thickening.

The woman merely disregards the boy as she guides him further away.

The two walk directly past Madara, not noticing him in the slightest, as if he were invisible. His heart sinks upon the terrible realization that this is just a dream.

"Izuna!" In defiance, he looks back at the retreating forms of the two and calls out the child by name, his brother's name.

But his cry goes on deaf ears as they continue to walk further away, heading around a corner and out of sight. Sighing in a way that the pain is released into the air, he looks down, downtrodden and angry at having confirmed his suspicions. " _Seems this is just a memory_."

Gathering that much, his eyes sharply sway back to the entrance. " _if this really is a memory, then in that room is…_ " He halts his speech and with a few strides steps inside.

Within the dimly lit room is a boy – who he recognizes as his younger self – standing next to a bed with the same frame as earlier – the one carved with beautiful scenes of dragons and flowers.

On the bed is a woman, with long matted and sweat filled night black hair that flows down the bed in every which way, deep emerald green eyes unlike any other – an indescribable beauty. It's his mother, he knows this scene painfully so, yet, at the same time feels compelled to stay and watch with an almost desperate hope of change, but he knows the bitter truth.

He leans into one of the nearby walls of the room, surveying from a distance with his arms crossed, eyes cast down in the shadows of his hair, and an expressionless visage. His presence is unmistakable and overbearing, his anger is starting to freely flow outwards, once more confirming that this isn't real.

Nine other people are in the room with various people leaving and returning moments later. Most of these people are women, they're all in the same uniform meant for sterile surgery and the ever so common birth.

They're experts in the field, most of them have delivered hundreds of babies. After all, this is a time were the Uchiha clan has to produce many offspring in order to survive future conflicts, many children will see combat and die at a very young age.

Madara grew up at this time, although his "growing up" was even shorter-lived. His first taste of combat was at age three, this was early even by Uchiha standards, his growth was exceptional though, even for an Uchiha who learned to walk at this age, he'd already learned to walk on water and spew fire.

He would always lead ahead of others, step up when others have already given up, move forward when others retreated, train when others slept, study when others played, sacrifice when none would.

Is it no wonder that when people started claiming his power was due to some natural born prophecy that he grew bitter and distant? It was a mockery to his hard work and sacrifice.

Before he knew it, he had grown too powerful for his own good, everyone was beneath him, no rival – even the adults – could challenge him, until his encounter with Hashirama, to whom he saw a reflection of himself in – if only slightly distorted.

His determination, the sacrifice he had undergone, all of it was exactly like himself. And just like him, he was above others too. And that is when he knew, he had found his rival.

Besides the women, there are also three men in the room, two are clan elders, old fools who know nothing and will die knowing even less. But the third is his first cousin who died the following year, crying in his arms and saying things like how he wanted to hold his child for the first time and how much of an honor it was to die for the Uchiha clan.

He was a good friend, compassionate and friendly, he knew his way around a joke as well, but, he lacked conviction and power, he was not a talented warrior and he lost everything because of that, like the many that have fallen before and after him.

It's around now that he begins to think back, his eyes swaying down as he drifts inwards to his internal thought. And although these may not seem like good memories, he clings to them dearly, he loves them. These are what made him who he is, each sacrifice and hard labor endured, all of it.

Even the worst bits he would not erase if given the chance, sure, there are things he would undue, but never forget them. He focuses his attention back onto the room at hand and particularly the woman on the bed.

In the woman's arms are two babies – newborn judging from her and their appearance. Another baby rests in a crib next to the bed, no doubt born a few minutes before the others. The woman turns to the boy – perhaps noticing just how awfully gloomy he was – standing next to her bedside and speaks to him in an exhausted yet kind tone that matches her appearance.

"Son," She breathes out wearily, tired from the monumental birth she just endured, even the battle-hardened nurses have not seen one so brutal. "meet your new brothers."

"Yes, mom." The boy hesitantly replies, inching closer with his head down and his eyes veiled.

An eerie silence prevails within the room when the boy finishes his approach. He doesn't move at first, choosing for a squirmy shuffle, but upon realizing that his mother wasn't going to say anything more, he investigates one of his baby brothers with an exploratory hand.

The newborn scrunches its face and begins to cry. His dignity falls and he becomes irritated, and so he barks out. "Shut up!" In truth, he wasn't angry at the child, he was only deflecting pain.

His mother grabs his hand, calming him instantly. "I know how you feel right now, but they do not deserve your frustrations." She speaks piercingly, yet still with a lick of sweetness and a smile that could abolish to hearts of the toughest individual.

She isn't one to be messed with, after all, she was his main sparring partner up until the moment she got pregnant with Izuna, and even though he's already surpassed both his parents combined, she still frightens him. The look in her eyes when she gets angry, even thinking about it puts a chill down his spine.

One of the edges of Madara's lips curled upwards as he remembers his younger thoughts at the time. He can't help but think back to an old adage about mothers and how scary they can always be. One time when he was younger, in a particularly vigorous sparing match with Izuna – at least for Izuna it was vigorous, however, he was just toying around.

During this match, he "accidentally" threw Izuna through not only his family estate but into three other estates before finally coming to a stop in the women's bathhouse.

Needless to say, Izuna returned heavily beaten and red as a tomato. It was later that day that his mother had received complaints, and Izuna not wanting to die, revealed how it happened, and so that night they both learned of their mother's wrath.

Madara watches attentively as the woman moves the boy's hand onto a baby. "I know you will continue to be incredible. Watch and protect them as you have with Izuna. I have faith in you and always will."

Both newborns strive to open their eyes, moving around in their mother's arm as they give their best makeshift smiles – although in reality they just had to burp.

Despite slowing down to look at the heartwarming scene, not all is right, and this can clearly be seen, something gnaws at the boy from the inside, and he'd be damned if he didn't speak his mind.

He lifts his eyes from the babies. "Mom!" He begins loudly but lowers his voice as he continues. "I have been on the battlefield. I have seen what this world has to offer, it's not much. How can I protect them when there's so much, hate?"

He submits his soul into each word, truly lost at this moment and questioning why she thinks he can do so much. "How can you have such confidence in me?"

After hearing the question, she lets out an exhausted sigh. She knows full well the journey before her son is not an easy one. "It's my job to have confidence in you, and no not just because you're my son..."

Pausing as she shakes her head in refusal, she thinks on his future. She knows more then she lets on, but it would be meaningless to explain it now. "...But because I know you're special. Call it mothers intuition or whatever, but if there's anyone who can change the world, it's you."

"~The cycle of hatred created by wars and many other reasons is just that, a cycle. It can be broken by someone different, someone special. You will face many challenges of that I have no doubt, all life can throw at you and more.

"~These things will test you each step of the way. But, with all my heart I know you will overcome and leave stronger than anyone before you. You are a special person Madara." Smiling, she finishes her last words confidently, her voice getting distant and weak.

He casts his gaze down with slanted eyes, contemplating the meaning in her words. Something so grand, he wondered if he could truly accomplish something like that. "Change the world. You, really think I can?" He asks, doubting the idea of something of that scale, he's just one boy, was such a thing possible for him to do?

Her face gains a smirk as she continues with a cough. "Of course. I believe you can do anything, after all, you're my son. You take after me, and I am just too amazing, some may even say all powerful." She giggles with another cough at the end, a tear escaping her left eye.

He looks back up, determination and a burning fire swelling within his eyes. This is his new goal from now on. No matter how much pain and suffering he must endure, he will change this world. "If you believe in me then I promise to change the world!" Pumping his fist into the air, he declares this and more. "Not only for them but for you."

The woman sticks out her hand, pinky finger extended. "Then it's a promise?" She challenges with the same smirk.

"Of course!" Smiling, he rebounds and links fingers with his mother. The smile quickly settles though, and a tear falls from his face. He knows what's about to happen but he just can't accept it, It couldn't happen, it couldn't possibly be this way. The emotional wall he'd built over the years begins to crumble as the emotion it held back spills out.

As her son begins to break down, she looks away, squeezing her eyes shut to clear away the rapidly developing tears. It hurt seeing her son like this, and it's also served to further emphasize her own weaknesses.

At times she forgot that he had a vulnerable side. She had grown to over-rely on him as a shoulder to cry on, but rarely was it the other way around.

He was always there for her, steadfast and strong unlike anyone else, and it had quickly turned to the point she started seeing him less like a son and more as a man.

But she was his mother, and even though it's no longer possible to comfort him as she used to now that her life is withering away – to which that painful reality hurt far more than she thought it would – she could still be strong, as he was in her moments of vulnerability.

She tucks away her emotion, remaining stoic as she turns to face him. "I'm sorry I can't be with you any longer. Stay strong, I'll always be watching over you. I l-love you." She pipes out her last meaningful words proudly, before dying.

Her hand falls from his – cold and devoid of life. Eyes widening in horror upon realizing that she just died in his hands, his teeth clench and he shatters into tears. "Mom! Mom!…" He starts screaming in despair, he doesn't want to be left alone, his mother was his greatest light, and now she's gone just like that.

"Please don't leave me! Not alone." In a fit, he clings onto his mother desperately, crying loader and loader, the babies crying with him. Nurses rush in, getting the children out of the room.

However, not one person possesses the courage to pull the boy away from his mother. He's the strongest child prodigy in the Uchiha clan's history, many if not all fear his power. But eventually, his cousin gains enough courage to comfort the boy and get him out of the room to talk.

 **…**

Madara watched it happen again, his mother – Yoriko – die for the second time. How is one supposed to feel about that? He certainly didn't know, feeling a mixture of sorrow, comfort, and anger.

He's happy to reminisce on the past – see his mother and the sort – yet depressed and irritated to see the failures and tragedies of the past repeat themselves. But, it didn't make sense, why is he being shown this? To torture him? Some sort of heavenly trail?

He cast aside the ideas with an angry sigh as he recalled that his father – Tajima – wasn't even here on this day. He chuckles. The irony is hard to ignore, Tajima was off on some battle, no doubt lacking the strength to face his wife's death, a coward who pretended to be brave is a coward nonetheless.

As his younger self is escorted past him – grasping his cousin and mourning in the hopelessness – his fist clenches to the point that his glove screeches under the pressure.

As he follows him out of the room with an edged corner of the eye stare, his jaw muscles flex as he bites down to stave off the anger. That was the moment in his life that everything changed. He'd lost his first and greatest light. Tragically, that would be a continuing theme throughout his life - loss - his brothers, his lover, his clan, his friendships, and finally, his dream.

It's not too long before the room is cleared, leaving a thick cloud of depression behind, along with Yoriko's body. He stops leaning against the wall but doesn't move any further. And as he stares at her body, emotions he forgot he had begun to surface. The faint bitter-batter of a heartbeat has once again returned.

Slowly and with a great deal of apprehension, he moves to the bedside and comes to a stop. Looking down at the serene and heart-shaped face with his head slightly cocked to the side and his eyes calm.

A singular tear runs down Yoriko's left cheek. He wipes away this tear as he proceeds to caress her cheek. It's now that he realizes that she had hidden these tears from him in order to appear stronger in his moment of weakness, as he did with her.

He's happy that his mother did that for him. But, there is still that feeling of something illusory in the air. This isn't real, it's some delusion, but maybe it's a way to atone, even if it's meaningless to all but him.

He takes her hand into his, rubbing the top of her hand with his thumb, his gaze following his own motion as he says. "What can I say, not only did I let my brothers die, but I failed to end the cycle of hatred."

Ashamed at his failures, he cast his gaze to the side. "I guess your faith in me was, misplaced." He lingers on the last word as he finishes with a solemn and bitter chuckle.

The faintest of tears makes it's way down his own cheek as he closes his eyes. "I'm sorry. I know I must be a disappointment. I caused so much death and misery in my attempt to change the world. I got lost somewhere along the way. I was blinded…"

He clenches his teeth together and shakes his head in disgust, before continuing in a raised voice. "...Tricked! By something I should have seen coming, but it doesn't matter anymore, there is no such thing as peace." And in what seems like acceptance of his statement, the world fades around him, darkening until all that's left is the room he was in prior.

The sickening realization for the first time in his life that he truly has no idea of what to do has struck like a poison dagger in the night.

Perhaps it's time, time to wait till whatever this is comes to a final anticlimactic end. But then, just as he's about to sink into the crushing despair and surrender to his failures, an exuberant feminine voice suddenly squeals out from behind him and lifts him from the darkness. "Hello!"

He twists around with wide eyes that are quickly forced to squint as he finds himself face to face with the same apparition from earlier; the one that possesses an immense aura.

The light separates to reveal. "Yoriko?! Is that you?" Hesitantly and with a look of hope, he straightens out and moves closer. It's most likely another illusion, he knows this but, some part of him wants it to be real.

"Madara, It's me..." With hands upon her sides and a scolding expression on her face, Yoriko scolds him in a voice and personality that seems nostalgic.

He questions whether this is the real deal before him this time or another trick. He is lost in a moment of deliberation, but toons back in quickly, apparently he didn't miss a word. "...You better call me mom or perhaps even the super magnificent number one mother of all time!" She declares, taking a pose with her arms crossed under her chest and her eyes shut.

She peeks from one eye, only to see her son making no expression at all, taking for more of a plain stair, but being the one that raised him allowed her to know that's his way of expressing shock and surprise, or at least that's what she liked to imagine, so she composes herself with a clear of the throat and continues.

"Besides that, I came because I noticed that you needed direction and…" Before she can finish, she is taken by surprise and pulled into a warm and loving embrace, her head resting on his powerful chest while his thick muscular arms coiled tightly around her.

A second goes by in his embrace, enjoying it but also getting over how much he's grown. "...Oh, and what happened to the boy who would complain when I hugged him in front of the other childre…oh sorry, 'warriors of the dragon' as you and your father would call them?"

As she stares up amidst a mischievous grin, it falters once she sees the empty and pained look. Loosening his hold and looking down with a somber yet serious expression, he whisks aside a strand of hair covering her face as he replies. "That part of me died with Izuna." His voice is void of emotion. "I'm not that naive child anymore."

"Listen to me," She begins telling him in a kind and loving way with a believe me look. "you will always be my child. However, I can't say you're naive anymore, but certainly, that 'naive child' understood something that you've forgotten." With a momentary pout, she adds one last thing. "And all your going to call me is mother isn't it?"

"What I call you doesn't matter." He acts irritated at her typical child-like behavior in such a situation, although he truly doesn't mind, he's just happy to see her, the real her this time; he'd put up with anything to stay with her for even a moment longer. "So, what am I forgetting?" He asks, more neutral this time with a slight head lean.

She breathes in, preparing to answer. "You have forgotten how to let go, to forgive yourself. You constantly view yourself as not good enough judging by your own standards. Understand this, your brother's deaths were not your fault, they were a circumstance of the times they lived in."

"~You went from an idealistic child who wanted to work together to create peace to a cynical and pessimistic adult who believes that nothing but an absolute can pull the world from the cycle of hatred, which drove you to the Infinite Tsukuyomi, the wrong path, for you anyways."

"Then what is the right path?" With a raised eyebrows and opening arms, he asks the question he never had an answer to, but before she can reply he continues passionately. "I've tried to achieve peace through love and cooperation. I've tried it through force, fear, and pain. I've even tried to take free will out of the equation, yet still, I failed!"

"No, you haven't failed! You were simply rejected." Finishing that statement with equaled passion, she gently – in both appearance and tone – continues. "Look, both versions of you and their differing ideals are needed for change. You aren't all-knowing, spend some time learning and find a new solution, change yourself before seeking to change the world. Do you understand?"

His eyes sway up and then down, momentary flashes of doubt reflecting in them, wondering if he failed or not, only to stop and release a heavy sigh that he didn't remember holding; this relaxes the tension building up.

Looking down to think on her words, a vast array of things enter his mind, but the most important thing is what would take place after this war. His eyes widen as he comes upon a realization.

He wonders how could be so foolish, it's peace, right there in front of him, clear as day, it's only temporary, but still, it's the closest thing he can imagine, besides an absolute, and it happened from the combination of two very different dreams coinciding and working together.

The meanings behind her words are clear. Opening his eyes – which show a new meaning – he sees his mother slowly tip-toeing away into the dark; she's barely visible at this distance, but she turns her head and signals for him to follow, which he does, albeit confused at her intention.

When he catches up, they're at some sort of wall consisting of solid black granite or at least it looks that way; it goes up but he cannot see an end, nor the other sides of the room, but, if there's a wall perhaps there's a way out, although the unlikely hood of that is apparent.

He looks to his mother, wanting to thank her for the help, but, she's focused on the wall for some reason. He looks at the wall, wondering what it is she's looking for. "I understand what you were saying, thank you." He acknowledges, slightly embarrassed that he still needs his mother to guide him when he's almost one hundred and twenty years old.

Not shifting her attention from the wall she alternatively inspects it with a hand and hums out a simple question. "So, are you still going to give up then?

"No, never again..." Pausing, he shakes his head in the negative and looks back up, her full attention on him as he continues. "...I have ideas floating about, I just need a way to make them fall into place, a plan, one to give me a chance."

As he clenches and unclenches his right hand, he counts to four, inhales, counts to four again, and exhales. This is something that he would do when in deep thought, it helped him relax and center himself onto basic human functions that he didn't have anymore.

The plan has begun to take shape. "The first thing I need to do is find out what's happening outside, from, wherever I am, and how to get out. Then I suppose..." He pauses, lips splitting into a grin and his eyes fill with mischievousness. "I'll think of something."

An aura of white emanates around Yoriko and her body starts to become slightly see-through as he finishes.

She seems either unaware or unconcerned as she simply smiles, pride evident in her visage. "Good." She says shortly, before continuing with absolute confidence. "Don't give up. If you struggle you must push forward, learn from it, grow stronger, and when you next meet such a challenge you will overcome it, but give up, and everything will have become in vain..."

Pausing, her face turns slightly sinister as she cryptically remarks. "...When I said you were special, I meant it. You are the only one who can bring true peace to this world, ending the cycle of hatred. You will do so much more I think. You're the center of everything."

A lingering recollection of the words takes place before his eyes sharpen. "What do you mean by that?" He asks, head twisting to the side. "What are you referring to?" He finds her answer strange. Was it possibly metaphorical, but if not, then just what is she talking about?

One side of her lip coils into a half smile as she replies almost teasingly so. "That will be for you to find out."

Looking at the aura around herself, she continues in a plain shortened hurry. "Now, it's my time to go," She points her finger upwards. "but first a little help, in order for you to see what's happening on the outside, you must place your hand on the wall and focus on the outside. However, that's all the help I can offer."

"Good luck, my greatest creation." She hugs him deeply, tiptoeing to kiss his cheek. He remains neutral, with no discernable sentiment. She takes a few steps back, waves goodbye with a smile and vanishes into remnants of radiant white energy that whirl about the room, which he follows by eye for a moment as they disappear.

"Goodbye." Solemn in his tone and lingering his gaze over to the space Yoriko once occupied, he quickly moves on. It isn't the time for emotion, but the time for action. Pressing his left hand against the chillingly cold granite, he does what he was told.

 _"Focus on the outside"_ Her words repeat in his mind as he imagines his surroundings while at the same time focusing on the outside of wherever he may be. Shifting and changing, the wall obeys his will, reflecting the outside like a mirror made out of liquid metal.

To his surprise, the mirror is showing Naruto and Sasuke, both turned away from him in a place that is unrecognizable to the world he knows, one completely filled with lava. He's within Kaguya after all, watching through her eyes.

Kaguya is creeping upon Naruto and Sasuke, actually, on second look, Naruto and Sasuke seem to be frozen in place, fear or a paralysis jutsu maybe, it doesn't really matter. "I must be what was required for her revival, like some sort of vessel, her will projected over me in the form of Black Zetsu." He gets to this conclusion, figuring he could probably do something similar.

The stone tablet said that the Sage sealed his mother in what would be the moon. It's only then that Madara realizes that the seal was broken by the activation of Infinite Tsukuyomi. He chuckles at the irony. "I set my own trap."

He shuffles his reasoning to Naruto and Sasuke, where are they? He makes an educated guess. "Another space-time dimension?" He doesn't mull this around for long, it's the only possibility. It must be one of the abilities of the Rinne-Sharingan.

Regretting not having the time to test out the Rinne-Sharingan's capabilities, he strokes his chin and examines Naruto and Sasuke in their predicament. "How did those two gain that power so quickly? The Sage of Six Paths?"

With a raised eyebrow, he queries to himself momentarily, before agreeing with it. Once again, it's the only possibility. The only person who'd have an interest in such affairs, while at the same time possessing the power to make a difference is the Sage.

His eyes become cold as he starts thinking out loud. "That damned Sage! He foresaw Kaguya's revival, he knew my fate, but why not come after me himself, maybe he couldn't, or maybe it's something else." He hums in thought. He knows that even with the power Naruto and Sasuke received from the Sage that it wasn't enough to fully defeat him, in fact, it wasn't even close.

"Unless..." He says this singular word in realization before pausing, mouth parting slightly as his tongue slowly swipes back and forth on his sharp canine tooth and his eyes divert to the top left. "...Unless the Sage required two people for something that's capable of defeating me or Kaguya."

This is when he recollects that Naruto and Sasuke have symbols on their hands. He even remembers a brief conversation between the two right before they tried to touch him with those same symbols.

"Fuinjutsu!" It makes absolute sense to him as to why Naruto and Sasuke endured a battle they had no chance of winning, it was to seal him. "I believe those are moon and sun symbols, representing both shadow and light styles respectively."

These seals are likely the very same that sealed Kaguya oh so long ago, but for a sealing jutsu to be that strong it could only be one thing, the container for the Great Sage's spirit, split between Naruto and Sasuke.

If that's the case, then if they are to seal Kaguya, theoretically they'll no longer be able to sustain their Six Paths chakra on their own, leaving them to drain the excess over time, of course that could take decades if they used a minimum amount of chakra, but in combat, maybe a few hours at best.

He's beginning to grasp just how much planning the Sage had done thus far, there must have been a considerable amount of requirements that needed to be met for the transfer of his power, in addition, to even learn of Kaguya's revival must have taken centuries.

As his attention shifts back to Naruto and Sasuke, he sees them methodically turning and the look on their faces can only be described as one of horror.

It's understandable, they're frozen in place before the origin of all chakra of the planet, a goddess who lightly caresses their chins with a whimper, a stream of tears flowing down her cheeks.

Even from within, he can still sense Kaguya's immense chakra. He also realizes that it's doesn't all belong to her alone, the chakra has many – many being hundreds of millions – of different chakra signatures, which is what defines a person's unique chakra fingerprint so to speak.

"So what Zetsu said was true, that's its true purpose..." With a wince Madara collapses to his knees without warning, a splash and ripple forming in the water beneath him.

His hands reach to grasp his head as it pulsates in extreme pain, his mind is being filled with information at an unbelievable speed, unable to focus on any of it. _"What is this?!"_ The pain in his head grows even worse, causing his voice to become almost desperate.

A green chakra of sorts bubbles up from the ground, slithering in the water like angulating snakes and invading into his body. With a frantic look, he notices this chakra. "What is going on?!" Barely able to express words at this point, he screams this behind clenched teeth.

He suspects it's the source of the pain. _"Is this green chakra part of Kaguya?!"_ The pain continues to arise, a small amount of information that's entering his mind is focusing like images becoming clear.

Many images flash before him as if he were the beholder; two newborns with vast quantities of white hair encircling them, two children running around in a garden atop a mountain, two cloaked men with the sun and moon seals outstretched towards the beholder thousands of feet in the air.

It's now that he understands that this is Kaguya's past, the vast information entering him is focusing on what she's remembering. _"This is the very distant past that I am seeing, are these memories?"_

 **...**

On the other side of the mirror, Black Zetsu – completely unaware of the agony going on within his mother – coils himself around the already paralyzed Naruto and Sasuke from within Kaguya's sleeve.

He begins speaking in a sarcastic sort of tone. "Kaguya seems to see her two children when she looks at the two of you. Isn't that sweet?" With a sickly laugh, he continues. "She, who was sealed away by her own children. Such a poor, pitiable mother."

Becoming confused, Naruto struggles to eye Zetsu – regardless of that being impossible as Zetsu is literally grafted onto his right side – to ask. "Why'd Six Paths super gramps seal away his own mom, I thought he sealed away the Ten-Tails?"

Naruto can barely speak when in this possession, his chakra is being drained too but he can't do a damn thing about it. However, he's confused, the story the Sage told him conflicts with what Zetsu is telling him now.

"It appears you have the wrong idea." He replies.

Sasuke – having the same struggle as Naruto – asks this in agitation. "Just who and what are you, Black Zetsu?"

"I am Kaguya's child." He answers plainly. "I recorded everything that happened while my mother was gone. And molded it as well. The tale of shinobi is the tale of restoring Kaguya."

Huh?! What're you talking about?!" Naruto isn't following in the slightest. "What do you mean?"

"Since you know mother's name, you must have met Hagoromo. I figured that it was possible, depending on the power of the reincarnates. As well as receiving the power to seal mother away." He chuckles as he proceeds. "It's rare to see the reincarnates of Indra and Ashura cooperating this closely."

"You two know nothing. So, let me tell you 'my' tale whilst I suck out your remaining chakras." He waits a moment to let the suspense build as he's become rather dramatic in the past century. "As I told you earlier, my mother was sealed away by her own children."

"Apparently, this was a very powerful seal. The Jutsu turned Kaguya into a planetary devastation core, which became this planets moon, but just before that seal took hold she gave birth to me in order for her to one day be restored. I shall now show you two all of that. I don't have any candy, but the puppet show is about to begin." He finishes with a laugh.

Naruto and Sasuke's vision slowly fades as they're cast into the dream Black Zetsu wants them to see. Unbeknownst to Black Zetsu though, Kaguya is feeling somewhat strange and slightly weaker than a moment ago, but the chakra from Naruto and Sasuke would surely fix that.

 **...**

Madara has very quickly lost the ability to even writhe in pain as he lays still, half submerged in the water, devoid of expression and only a slight twitch of movement. The green chakra that's been entering his entire body is now doing so at a frightening pace, its effects have also increased; it's the worst experience of his life, the pain is indescribable.

 _"Everything is going black."_ Even in his mind, his voice is hollowed and disheveled, he can barely think straight too and this unsettles him. Whatever this is, is changing him in some way, doing something, he just didn't know what. He then lets out a pain filled gasp as another jolt of pain strikes.

And that's when his vision fades, along with his consciousness. But, unlike Naruto and Sasuke – who would only be out for mere moments in real time – he'd be under much longer.

 **...**

Hours have passed by the time Madara awakes, his face still half submerged in water and the green chakra still streaming into him. Shakily lifting himself with an arm, he chokes repeatedly in an attempt to clear his lungs of the water.

Moving onto his elbows and knees, a loud groan escapes him. "Uh, I feel like I just took a thousand hits from that eight gates user to the head." In fact, the idea of that happening sounded a great deal more pleasant to him.

He looks up as the room starts to shake with a low rumble. He is unsure whether this is drowsiness or actually happening, but with a shake of the head and a sigh, he says with a pitiable laugh. "It never seems to be over, does it."

Quickly getting up with a wobble, he looks to the mirror and sees something favorable; Naruto and Sasuke have sealed Kaguya. "Good, this is the chance I needed." He says this with a wicked smile but knows that without a little luck he may very well die.

The granite walls making up the place start to crack. Blinding light pours through these cracks, illuminating the room and continuing to increase as more cracks develop. The shaking grows stronger, confirming it's in fact real.

"Now, the hard part begins. The extraction of the Ten-Tails will leave me in a bad state physically." Pausing, his eyes sway to the top right. "I will have to rely upon Hashirama's predictability to gain enough strength to move again. I will never be more vulnerable than these upcoming moments."

 **...**

A cinematic ending. The sun and moon seal leaving the hands of both Naruto and Sasuke as Kaguya bellows in bitter defeat and agony as the Tailed Beasts are torn from her one at a time.

The planet tears itself apart to form onto this new celestial body. It's over, they've done it.

Kaguya, however, is beyond angry, defeated again in the same way, what absolute ridiculousness. Her mind is also occupied with the lingering worry as to what was causing her to lose strength throughout the fight; it's as if she's really dying, losing her true self so to speak, it's unlike anything she's felt before.

And right at the last moment before the seal takes hold she understands what's happening, but it's too late, only the notion of her true death awaits her as her last bit of consciousness departs.

Now free of conscious form the chakra becomes immensely unstable as what was once Kaguya begins to transform into a giant white mass resembling a rabbit – albeit a monstrous one at that – that bellows in agony at its own twisted and monstrous existence.

The rocks that were lifted from the ground start forming onto this monster. However, before it's completely sealed, the head spits out a familiar shape as loses its existence as well.

Madara cuts through the air and a gasp escaping him as he smashes into the ground with considerable force, his head snapping back into the jagged rock. Slightly annoyed by that landing, with a blank face and a groan, he sarcastically says. "Ow."

Slowly holding out his hand towards the sky as the red light from the star within this dimension radiates through the gaps in his fingers, he discerns that it's just as he thought, his visual prowess is gone and he can't move in any serious manner at the moment. His gaze drifts to the victors and their conversation as he starts infusing whatever pittance of chakra possible.

 **...**

Unable to stop himself from staring up at the sphere that keeps growing larger and larger and rising higher and higher, Kakashi is flabbergasted. "It's still growing. It's like another moon." He remarks in a nervous laugh sort of way.

"Guys!" Leaping through the air on the floating boulders, Naruto calls out to his team in his typical joyous manner as he lands next to Sasuke, Kakashi, and Sakura to give a thumbs up as he continues. "The seal is complete! We can finally celebrate."

"You're right! The first thing I want is a hot bath to wash away all this sweat and grime." Sakura pauses, stretching out with a happy smile, but that's when she remembers a rather important detail. "Hold on a sec!" She squeals with large white eyes. "What about us?! How are we supposed to get out of this space-time?!"

She was right, that is a serious problem as none of them have a way back. Kakashi may be able to open a portal, but he is certainly in no condition to traverse such vast dimensions.

"Oh no! You're right! This is bad! This is bad!" Naruto roars back, his face taking the same comical expression. Then, as if to reassure them, they – including Madara and the Tailed Beasts – are whisked away from that space-time dimension in a vibrating manner.

 **XxXx(Madara: The New Plan)xXxX**


	2. Last Chance

**XxX**

 **XxX**

 **XxX**

 ** **XxXx(Madara: The New Plan)xXxX****

With an emerging vibrant blue light, roughly four – four-meter – plumes of smoke explode onto the battlefield of the Fourth Great Shinobi War in relatively close proximities to each other. Nine extra massively larger tufts appear roughly a mile and a half away, with the largest reaching around a hundred and thirty meters.

The smoke disperses, however not traditionally so, instead, it vanishes unnaturally just as it had appeared to reveal the former members of team seven and the Tailed Beasts.

The summoning circle that surrounds them is approximately twelve miles in diameter, made from the intricate and largely unknown arts of Fuinjutsu. Only the most skilled of users could even dare to dream of performing something like this, even experts from the former Uzumaki clan would be unable to do this, that only leaves one person capable of such a feat, the great Sage.

This Fuinjutsu was performed near the center where every single Kage in shinobi history has gathered into another circle with seals connecting between them – those of the Kage not priorly reanimated during the war have been brought back in some sort of blue phantom form.

The sealing marks of the formula glow a whitish blue, but they are fading to black as the effects come to an end, soon they will disappear completely.

Naruto and the rest of the former members of team seven can't help but wonder what occurred, a moment ago they were in Kaguya's dimension, and despite most of them still sharing feelings of relief some couldn't help but feel a little apprehension in the back of their minds.

This is especially true for Sasuke who's eyes shift about, examining the situation, cautiously, each one a potential enemy. He aspires to act promptly, though only with the least opposition possible. For now, he decides it's better to just wait, and see whatever transpires.

Naruto's forearm hair gradually rises; there's tension in the air, like a wind running along a wet body, it sends chills to his being. He ignores it, the war has gone on from one enemy to the next, it has been ages since they've experienced the pleasures of a good rest, although, in reality, it's only been just two, maybe three days. they've lost count. Regardless, it's made him edgy.

Despite their conglomerate concern, they're also comforted by the certainty that Kaguya has been sealed and the war ended. And like the cherry on top of it all, they somehow made it back, however, what's there to greet them isn't a welcoming display.

It's hard to picture that only a couple of days ago this battleground was once an expansive mountain range covered in lush forests and filled with life, but now it's empty and destroyed for as far as the eye can see.

The crimson moonlight that's cast upon the world seeps past the perverted and jagged roots of the Divine-Tree that stretch high into the sky like pillars of corruption, creating an eery feel of loneliness and unsettling silence.

The people strung up into the cocoons of the Divine-Tree are still held within the Infinite Tsukuyomi, supposedly dreaming their own individual idyllic dream. From the outside, it's anything but ideal, it's an alien world, scarred by the clashes of deities.

This land will never heal from the destruction sustained throughout this war, it will serve as a scar of remembrance to beings of supreme intellect, unfathomable power, and indomitable wills.

Naruto glances at the strange characters around him in bewilderment. He can't recognize a majority of them, some do seem familiar, but no more so then those he passes on his way to eat at his favorite ramen place. He then he notices his father – Minato – amongst them.

"Welcome home, Naruto." Looking towards him already, Minato welcomes him back from the seemingly impossible journey, his expression as kind and warm as the words that left his mouth.

His eyes water up as he holds back his tears. His father's words made him feel home in this unfamiliar place. "Dad…" He lingers onto the word and comes to grips with the reality around him, finally, it's a happy one. He only has one more thing to do. He glances over at Sasuke.

Sakura steps closer to Naruto, leaning in and whispering. "Naruto," She gathers his attention from Sasuke and points towards the strange floating man next to them figuring he would have the answer. "who's this?"

Naruto acknowledged Sakura in a daze but snaps out of it as he glances at the Sage of Six Paths – the one who gave both him and Sasuke the godlike abilities that helped them save the world. He excitingly answers. "Super Gramps! Which means…"

Hagoromo jumps in, hindering Naruto from revealing anything further. "That's right!" He Interrupts in his usual casual tone, which did hold a hint of approval and joy within.

He chuckles at the comical nickname he's been stuck with apparently and continues. "You're back to your world through a summoning performed by all prior five Kage." He looks at each of them as he says their names. "Naruto, Sasuke, and the rest of you," Sakura deflates and Kakashi rubs the back of his neck with a closed eye smile. "excellent work saving the world."

 **...**

Before everybody had started to converse with each other, Hashirama – observing from the sidelines amongst the other Kage – had taken notice of another bloom of smoke over to his left that went unnoticed by the rest as soon as they had arrived.

The smoke disappeared and Madara was revealed, broken, blood leaking from his mouth drop by drop. His eyes a dull red, and once elegant hair dried with blood and dirt. The diety has fallen from grace. Hashirama was and still is the forgiving type and so he headed towards his old friend, for some last words.

 **...**

Hashirama isn't the only one who saw Madara; Sasuke – who dismissed the conversations around him, in favor of scanning the area, as if waiting for an opportunity for something – also spots him with his – as usual – attentive eyes. He heads towards Madara, the intent to finish him off for good subtly expressed in his demeanor.

Not shifting his gaze from Hashirama and Madara, Hagoromo halts Sasuke with a hand. "Madara was the Jinchūriki. Even if it was temporary, emptied of the Tailed Beasts, he won't last long." He says matter of factly, cold in his words, but also an air of compassion.

Sasuke scoffs at that, pitching his head to the side and looking away with disrespectful eyes. "It's his fault for trying to use such things"

Hagoromo looks at Sasuke and subsequently Naruto and the rest. "Sasuke, Naruto, behold the end of your predecessors." He speaks sharply, hanging his voice on each of their names as he refers to the previous reincarnations of his two sons, Indra and Ashura. "You should watch this closely."

 **…**

Madara lays upon the jagged rock beneath, seemingly dead, but in actuality, he's waiting, waiting for his longtime rival Hashirama Senju, and just as priorly predicted, a presence kneels beside him, all but silent if it weren't for the small clank of the armor.

Honestly, he was momentarily concerned when he sensed that Uchiha youngster approaching him. That boy has such strong hatred, although that is expected with the boy's Sharingan as developed as it is. He would have been killed for sure had the boy not been obstructed. With an eternal smile, he reckons that he has the elder Sage's stupidity to thank for his survival.

"Is that you, Hashirama?" His voice is weak and raspy when he asks the question he already has the answer to.

Lowering Hashirama's guard is necessary now that his once powerful eyes are lifeless and blind. Hashirama would have to be close, not ready for an attack. An act of weakness, a final argument and maybe even a concession of views. That is what he determines to be the best way to troll Hashirama into a false sense of safety, then he'll tear it away.

The face that once adorned his chest made up from the cells of the very man a few inches away is no longer present after becoming the Ten-Tails vessel. The cells of Hashirama have completely merged into his body, but even still he can barely muster the strength to converse, let alone move; he needs to find that strength.

He receives a confirming grunt in return from Hashirama. "I guess neither you nor I could achieve what we wanted."

Hashirama looks down with a saddened smile and what can only be described as acceptance of the reality around him. "It's never that easy. There's a limit to what we can accomplish when we're alive. That's why we leave it to the next generation."

"You're still so naive, as usual." He chuckles weakly. "Well, you were always the optimistic one, as perhaps I once was. The longer I live the less I think there's a path to true peace. My dream is coming to an end, but your dream still lives on for what it's worth."

Hashirama replies with a small shake of the head. "We were both too hasty Madara. We didn't need to fulfill our dreams ourselves. It's more important to cultivate those who would come after us, to whom we could entrust our dreams."

Thinking back on his past, Hashirama is reflecting on his own mistakes. His greatest regret was his inability to protect Madara from persecution and likewise the Uchiha clan, and he can't help but imagine a different outcome. "What if I tried something different? What could have become of the world?" These are the questions occupying the back of his mind.

Madara stays silent before he chokingly jokes. "Then it might have been impossible for me from the start, since I always hated someone, standing behind me..."

Hashirama shares a smile and a laugh with him as Madara proceeds in a depressing tone. "...But, jokes aside, who could I ever hand my dream over too, I have no one on my side, especially in the end," He smiles somberly as he says with a smile. "well, except for one fool-hearty friend of mine."

He losses the smile and elaborates. "People have a habit of twisting the truth, Hashirama. This only becomes more severe the longer time passes. Nothing will change this way and as such, your way...Naruto's way...is as equally flawed as my own. I can accept that I was wrong...the path I chose wrong...but can you, I wonder?"

Hashirama acknowledges his friend with another grunt. "Remember back when we were children, you once said, 'Shinobi never know when they'll die.', and if we ever found a way to immortality, that we'd share no matter what."

"~We'd have to exchange our cups and become brothers, and that for neither side to die, we'd both have to reveal what's inside of us, but we're both dying right now, so the only thing that we can do is exchange our cups as war buddies."

Madara is silent for a moment, a slightly sad expression seeping through the exhaustion. "I've already seen it, the futility of truly seeing someone. I'm tired of it all, perhaps dying here as war buddies would be a release, but unfortunately, history has time and time again shown a pattern of fools repeating actions in insanity."

"~This world took shape because of people like you: The Sage, his son Ashura..." Pausing, he looks into the eyes of his friend and rival with his dead soulless gaze that reflects disdain but also hints of admiration. "...You share a foolish belief in people that I simply cannot comprehend."

"~Humans are beings of hubris filled with the desire for destruction, yet you hold such unyielding faith in those around you when all they do is spit in your face. In this world, nothing goes as planned," He shakes his head in contempt. "only pain, suffering and hopelessness exist. And wherever there is light, shadows are never far behind..."

He catches his breath, looking past the roots of the Divine Tree and towards the moon. The ramifications his actions have taken upon this world and its people are apparent. He was wrong, the Infinite Tsukuyomi is not ideal, but equally so, on the other hand, was Hashirama, whose path to peace led to countless suffering and far more death than his own.

Only together have their two dreams worked together to form peace, however, it's a repeating cycle. Indra and Ashura's dream combining to form Hagoromo's dream, which also failed, thus the cycle will continue in limbo, meaning Madara is fundamentally correct, but how to go about ending a cycle that's seemingly impossible to end?

"Man seeks peace, yet at the same time yearns for war, that deception is mankind. In order to protect something, one must sacrifice. And when one loves, they must bear the risk of hatred when someone takes that which they love away from them, yet you again, defy this." He says in annoyance.

The thing he hated most about Hashirama was also that he admired above all else. "The will of fire..." He says in a grandiose fashion, hanging onto the word as if mocking its very existence. "...I always despised it. How is it, even though you lost the same things as I, that you never faltered away from your original dream?!"

Waiting for an answer of any kind he receives nothing, Hashirama doesn't know. A long silence begins before Hashirama breaks it with a question of his own. "You could have killed me many times. You've been stronger than me for a very long time, why hold yourself back? What stopped you from surpassing me?"

"I..." His tongue is tied. He realizes what Hashirama said is true. Why did he hold himself back?

"What about this war, you held yourself back as well, didn't you?" Hashirama adds.

"I..." This hits him as at first he thought he did it for the purpose of enjoying himself in combat, but under questioning, it simply didn't make sense, his dream was more important than his enjoyment, so why did he hold back, when he could have finished it in an instance? "...I don't know." He answers with the truth, a puzzled look on his face.

"You really are a kind man. I thought that man gone, I'm glad I was wrong. You love humanity more than anyone. You understand that taking away a person's humanity wasn't right, and killing me would have removed the notion that I was your equal, for you to strive against me made you feel human, and that is what allowed you to continue the task at hand so betrayed and misled."

Madara's surprised that those words came from Hashriama mouth; it almost sounded too intelligent for him. He lets it sink in for a moment and then lets out a small ironic laugh. "I did love the world, I still do."

"~When we were children, listening to you talk about your dream gave me hope. Knowing we stood side by side gave me the courage to continue against the odds, and then one day it was gone. I had come to realize that understanding each other was not enough. Humanity was beautiful, but flawed beyond repair, and I sought out to fix it, but I was wrong."

He breaths out a sign of humor. "It's almost comical, Isn't it?" As he asks this, Hashirama cocks his head to the side in confusion. Seeing that he doesn't understand, he elaborates. "The cooperation of our dreams has led to peace with everyone casting aside their differences to hate one person. I most likely don't need to explain..."

The strain on his body is manifested in a severe coughing fit that prompts blood to spill from the sides of his mouth; it demands a moment of seizure-like coughs to get it under control.

He continues in a sore and burned voice. "I'm defeated now, but the peace that will follow will be temporary, just as the shadows wait for the light to die, so too, shall hatred. You aren't dull like I once thought, so you know this to be true. It takes one person to give in to the craving of conflict, to want more, and to take what someone loves...the cycle of hatred will start anew."

His face contours into one of uneasiness and disgust. "Nothing has changed. I'm unable to share your juvenile beliefs in people. To leave my dream in the hands of fools as you have, I simply cannot. A different solution must be found, there has to be one. But I cannot find it as I am, I must change, that much I am able to comprehend."

"But first, I need a chance to do that." Hashirama's guard is at an all-time low. Having recuperating what scarce remnants of chakra remained within, he uses everything in one desperate assault, forcing his body to move from the ground at the outlandish speed needed to lunge his right-hand straight into his rival's chest.

"Forgive me. I won't be going with you, friend." Hashirama gives a grunt as he's pierced. He grins in return. "From here on out, It's time I make my comeback."

He expected nothing less from his rival. This man before him really does warrant that grandiose title such as the God of Shinobi. The chakra within Hashirama, to say it's incredible is an understatement, even as a reanimation it volume and potency exceed's the completed Nine-Tails of the past.

Using his ability to absorb chakra, a potent blueish chakra is drawn into his arm at a frightening rate, oddly causing meager tremors to the encompassing area. His eyes enlarge, this sensation is unique; there's a difference in the chakra itself, but also some sort of alluring weight buried within Hashirama's chakra network.

Time slows to a halt around him as he is lifted to a vast highway of chakra roads. The chakra is plentiful in lifeforce. He only has a few picoseconds at the most before the fastest shinobi can reach him, it will be just enough time. His Doujutsu has already been revived due to rejuvenating properties of the lifeforce and the strain on his body is also lifting.

The reasons why this chakra is as unique matters not at this moment; he had planned to fight without his eyes as most of their inherent abilities he'd already mastered to the point that activation no longer requires them, although three abilities, in particular, would be extremely limited.

These aforementioned abilities are by far the most unpredictable and unique of his extensive arsenal, with the mighty Limbo being arguably the weakest of the three, he had planned to use just one or two of these abilities in their weakened states to contend Sasuke and Naruto for a time.

A twitch is all that begets Hashirama efforts as he finds himself powerless to move in any significant manner. "What are you doing?!"

Madara leans in closer with a sadistic and self-serving smirk. It would appear his rival was underestimating him, and this gave some petty amusement. "It's unexpected, but since when does my plan ever go exactly as I lay it out..."

Hashirama slumps down into his hold and stays silent with a look of exhaustion and his skin flaking away. He guessed that the silence was probably due to his inability to speak at this point.

His eyes veer to the once steady stream of chakra as it ceases its flow. With a semi-miffed expression, he takes notice of something else, besides the chakra, there's that mysterious pull further within his rival, calling out to him, almost as if luring him to pull.

It could be helpful and It's not like he has much to lose, although the last time he took in something that called out to him, he ended up as Kaguya, which he would rate as being a not so enjoyable experience. He sighs eternally. _"Nothing ventured, nothing gained, I guess."_ He thinks with an unenthusiastic shake of the head.

He pulls on Hashirama's chakra with more vigor than earlier, it's challenging, but he feels it snap away in one fell swoop.

...

Everyone – upon either seeing the situation for themselves or feeling the chakra – are having trouble discerning what's happening, nor do they realize the gravity of the situation. But Sasuke does, he knows if Madara absorbs Hashirama's chakra and regains his former power, it could be a severe threat, at least towards his own end.

It's true that Madara may not have enough power to attempt to fight him and Naruto head on, but that neglects the potential to go after the vulnerable Tailed Beasts again, something a crafty individual like Madara is capable of managing in this situation. He thinks about subduing the Tailed Beasts for a moment but decides against that course of action.

That move would clearly show his true intent and expose him, and although incredibly unlikely if he left Madara to his own devices to finish off Naruto, who knows what that man could do. He has to get rid of the past before the future, and so without any more hesitation, he sets out to do what he had originally intended before the Sage foolishly got in his way.

But then, something very concerning happens as Sasuke advances. His eyes widen when Madara extracts some sort of large green orb from Hashirama – who immediately disperses into the flakes of the reanimation jutsu that sag to the ground with the dead body of an unnamed shinobi falling atop. _"That can't be good."_ Sasuke increases his speed, he has to hurry.

...

Mysterious green chakra once again! Madara eyes this anomaly as its last traces are being assimilated into his arm. He can feel it within him. Upon inspection, it's similar to nature energy, but he has no command over it, it just heads deeper and deeper within his chakra pathways before disappearing once it reaches his chakra center, but where to is the question he asks?

It's not entering his chakra reserves and it's not being sealed within him like the Ten-Tails, that doesn't leave much else. As much as this concerns, his time has run out, someone approaches from behind, already knowing who it is, he wastes no time.

He uses his hands to twist his body and get onto his feet and face to face with none other than Sasuke – the fastest Shinobi currently alive – but it's too late, a blade is beset upon him, slicing into his torso and out the other side with a splatter of blood to accompany it.

Sasuke turns around, a smirks evident when Madara falls to the ground with a thud. He's been wanting to do that for quite some time. "It's time for the relics of the past to be gone, and more importantly, out of my way!" He spits.

"Foolish." This comes from a voice that echoes around Sasuke in multiple directions and distances, even below him. He looks to the body only to see it vanish into smoke. Immediately a presence with killer intent is behind him, his hairs stand up at this toxic intent. He sweepingly spins around with his katana to go against a metallic chakra rod of the Rinnegan.

The Katana and Madara's Rinnegan rod clash in a brilliant explosion of sparks and a sharp clang before stalemating against each other. Sasuke knew on contact that something wasn't exactly right; the slight pains in his joints, yet Madara looks unphased, despite the vast difference in their current prowess.

Madara applies pressure against the blade, pushing forward but at the same time straightening out and closing the gap to look down at the boy with his daunting height. "What's the matter, having trouble standing?" Sasuke manages to stay standing, making no outward reaction of distress, but his power is being matched.

Sasuke infuses his chakra into the eyes of Amaterasu, one to produce the flame, the other to command it. The jet-black conflagration produced by the eyes scorches all on heaven and earth, and those unfortunate enough to find themselves reflected in these eyes will turn back to nothing with temperatures exceeding that of the sun.

Amaterasu is a potent tool, originally his brother's ability, now his own after cutting the life of his brother short for an act of empty revenge, an action he will forever regret after learning the truth, but that story is for another time.

When fighting against Madara, one must know that Amaterasu will only serve as little more than a distraction. Sasuke is aware that Madara can detect the amassing of chakra in the eyes, although it really doesn't matter when they're locked in place against each other.

Neither of them can break away from the other without getting killed, his superior speed ensures that he would leave the victor in that event. He's also convinced that Madara is using some sort of ability to equal out their power. And so, the time it takes for Madara to absorb the flames with the Rinnegan is when he plans to finish this; when it's most likely for him to be open.

"That power you possess, it's redundant. You're like a dull greatsword swung by a drunkard. Power, and weight, but no finesse. I've already precluded every action you'll make from here because your actions are predictable." With a slight smile and a raised eyebrow, Madara seemingly derides Sasuke momentarily, at least that's what Sasuke hears.

But in actuality, he's simply telling Sasuke the truth of the matter. It's then that he's enveloped in the black flames of Amaterasu.

Sasuke had activated the flame in an instant, there was no room to escape it. "Don't speak as if you know me! You don't understand what it means to be an Uchiha!" This is truly what he believes, in his eyes, Itachi is a what it means to be an Uchiha, being one who's willing to sacrifice for what they love, not Madara who tried to take away the will of humanity.

Madara doesn't use the Rinnegan to absorb the flames and instead allows it to burn all the while managing to continue to hold Sasuke back, not giving room for either to move.

Having seen Sasuke's every move long in advance, Madara's unable to stop himself from inwardly smiling as the dark flames engulf and melt his body. At this time, he's reminded of a melody of combat that he'd learned throughout his life, that predictability is a road towards death, something he learned from Hashirama's unpredictability, in combat at least.

Some time ago, he held a soft spot for this Uchiha fledgling. It almost seemed like a waste to kill such potential and that's why he gave him that ever so fleeting chance to join him before ascending to new heights of power earlier in the war.

After all, Sasuke's resemblance to his brother Izuna is alarming, so much so that he questioned the connection between them, one that goes beyond blood is all he could assume, and it appears as though his assumption was correct.

This beyond blood connection is Indra Ōtsutsuki, the original founder of the Uchiha clan and the link between the two of them. From what he can glimmer from the disjointed memories of Kaguya and the much clearer memories of Black Zetsu – who gave his memories to Kaguya when he rejoined her – Indra reincarnated through the Uchiha, which spanned to the two of them.

But that's not all, Indra had a brother named Ashura Ōtsutsuki, the original founder of the Senju clan, who like his brother reincarnated through the Senju.

The most noticeable part was that Indra and Ashura always reincarnated together to continue the fight of ideals that had transcended generation after generation. Himself and Hashirama, and Naruto and Sasuke were both the reincarnates of these two beings. It made him feel controlled and powerless even when he felt at his most powerful. It made him angry to be manipulated.

The inferno that burns for seven days and seven nights unsurprisingly continues to strip away flesh and the muscle beneath. Sasuke is stunned that the man can still hold a weapon. The flames grow more intense, obscuring his view before clearing and revealing a misshapen pile of smoldering wood.

"I should've been able to tell!" Sasuke exclaimed. It was a system of multi-layered Genjutsu and a wood clone, something on its own is astonishingly difficult to tell the discrepancy between the original and the clone, yet the added Genjutsu added another layer of subterfuge.

He scans the area with priority, left to right, front to back. Over there, he spots Madara heading for the Tailed Beasts. A quick look of urgency to Naruto and he teleports after Madara. Naruto acknowledges Sasuke with a nod and darts after Madara at speeds massively faster than light.

Sakura amidst a frightened look, says. "This can't be happening, I thought it was over."

Putting his hand on Sakura's shoulder, Kakashi narrows his eyes, applying pressure to his hold as he reassures. "It's okay. Those two the way they are now can handle this." He's seen what Naruto and Sasuke can do now. They are the strongest shinobi alive and even Madara can't hope to beat them.

 **...**

Madara is after them again! That's what the Tailed Beasts themselves think at least; they will not let themselves be sealed again. They charge forward, Kurama leading the charge as he defiantly challenges Madara. "Try us!"

Madara gives a disdained look at them as he continues his journey towards them. _"Filthy Beasts."_ It's no secret that he loathes these creatures before him, they represent the mistakes of many, including himself; they're nothing but trouble, or so he once thought. He doesn't know what to think anymore.

Kurama lashes out with one of its many tails. The ground is torn apart by the tail but Madara casually dodged it with a sidestep, slamming to a halt and pushing off into the air, delivering a spinning kick to Kurama, sending him flying back into the others. Kurama lets out a painful roar.

Madara claps his hands together, fingers intertwined as he uses. "「Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence」." Roots spring up from the ground to entangle around the Tailed Beasts who can do nothing but struggle hopelessly. The ground trembles as the roots defile the surrounding area, forming buds.

As he descends, he says this with not only a growing grin but also a growing tone of mockery. "I hope you're ready for your cage! This time, it'll be more permanent!"

The flower buds blossom, spreading pollen into the air. A choking cloud of flammable poison. The Tailed Beasts are irritated by the cloud but can do nothing but let it weaken them.

Sensing a fastly approaching chakra signature below him, Madara turns his attention. Naruto had gained on him quickly, only a few yards away. And here he thought Sasuke was the faster of the two. Sasuke then appears to his immediate right.

With a swing of the sword, a vertical slice is carved into his right shoulder and down his chest. It's a deep cut and the swing - albeit unhoned and unrefined - unbelievable fast. He winces as the blood sprays from his shoulder. _"The debris from the Nine-Tails attack"_ He looks around, he was surrounded by it. "A _perfect medium to swap places with!"_ He vanishes.

Sasuke eyes widen instantly recognizing a telltale sign. He's fought against this before in his battle with Danzo; the Izanagi. "Naruto!" He gathers the miffed Naruto's attention. "I think he's using an ability called Izanagi. It makes him practically immortal for a certain period of time. This is a jutsu that requires the sacrifice of a Sharingan, it's absolutely no joke."

"Immortal?!" Naruto inquiries. "Right, of course." He doesn't understand at all. He isn't given time to either as Madara appears behind him in a flash, delivering a swiping kick to his face, sending him soaring back down.

Sasuke throws his katana at Madara and trades places. A black Chidori forms into his left hand as the momentum of the katana carries him forward.

Madara relaxes his body, his hair flowing about as Sasuke nears him, then, in less than one picoseconds, so slow that light itself is frozen in place, he speaks, "Ah, just in time. You've lost."

He vanishes. However, the attack still hit something. Looking into the limbo dimension with his Rinnegan, Sasuke sees his hand in the torso of a limbo clone that looks to its hand as it does a single hand seal.

Sasuke looks around with wide eyes, he and Naruto are surrounded by the pollen that's being released below, "Get ou..." The pollen ignites, exploding in a massive bloom of fire.

Naruto and Sasuke are unaffected by the blast, likewise, for the Tailed Beasts trapped below in the inferno. "Sasuke!" Naruto yells from within the blaze, "What Happened?!"

"Madara replaced himself with his shadow, which is what ignited the pollen." Sasuke answers while keeping his guard up, searching back and forth, "Can you sense him out?"

Naruto expands his senses, nothing close by, farther out. "H-He's just a little ways off from super gramps!"

Sasuke has a bad feeling about that. _"why would he leave if his goal is the Tailed Beasts"_ He puzzles. "Naruto! We need to get to him, and fast! This was a distraction for something else."

 **…**

Madara has to hurry, those two have already snuffed his location out and are on their way. He walks a few steps and looks down. A severed lower body in a white and black cloak lies before him on a shattered piece of ground.

 _"This should give me the needed foothold."_ He kneels down and grabs the leg. It merges into him.

 _"Somethings missing."_ He chuckles in realization. _"The Sage stole my chakra to manifest himself into the mortal plane. It will suffice, for now. I'll have to get that back eventually."_

He stands to his full height slowly, an open hand moving to his side as a Six Paths staff slams into the ground, his fingers encircling around it.

He clenches his left fist. The feeling of power returning. _"Even if I gain enough power to kill those two, there is no point. I'll continue with the plan."_ He rules, set on a new objective. _"Next, the summoning. I have never performed it before, but I studied it thoroughly. I, in theory, should be able to take control..." His e_ yes Immediately sharpen to a side glance.

He sidesteps. Tobirama comes into view with a kunai in hand. He can't believe the arrogance of this man, the man who killed Izuna and made the Uchiha clan disregard him. He grabs Tobirama's right wrist with his left hand, twisting it backward and locking his elbow into Tobirama's joint. With a motion of his staff, he impales him through the gut.

He looks up at Tobirama plainly. He's not a cruel man - at least not most of the time - but this man, he hated, despised, wanted to show him the worst pain imaginable and then some. As such, he enjoyed watching him suffer. If he could he would have a whole lifetime of it.

"So, you thought you would try on me twice..." He pauses as Tobirama coughs, clinging to the staff "...that which didn't even work the first time." He proceeds mockingly. "You'll be unable to teleport away after being impaled with this staff, for that matter, you won't be unable to do much of anything."

He watches with a growing grin. Tobirama struggles. trying to remove himself from the staff.

He grasps Tobirama around the throat with his free hand, then removes the staff and lifts him into the air as he continues. "As I told you earlier, you will never be able to regain your former speed. But regardless, I enjoy these little moments we have, from time to time. However, I think it's time to say goodbye for good."

Tobirama looks up at him with a fierce and furious expression, it's such a difference from his normal calm and collected one, "W-Wha-What did you do to him?!" Tobirama orders behind clenched teeth, fighting to speak due to Madara's bone-crushing hold around his windpipe.

"Who knows," He replies halfheartedly with a shrug before throwing his staff aside and propelling his hand towards Tobirama's chest. But, before he can reach, Tobirama disappears, his hand now piercing the air once occupied.

He holds out his right hand towards his staff, it responds by spinning into the air and into his hand. He twirls his staff around as Sasuke appears before him with a sword drawn back. He meets the Katana head on. It didn't have Six Paths chakra flowing through it, therefore, it's sliced in two, hitting Sasuke in the nose with enough force to be sent flying back.

Sasuke adjusts mid-air despite being discombobulated and lands harshly, skidding his broken katana across the ground to come to a stop.

Naruto lands next to Sasuke and faces of against Madara. "Sasuke I told you not to get ahead of me. You alright?" He asks.

Madara analyses them like prey, each movement shows weakness and strength. Sasuke nurses his broken nose for a moment before reaching for his wrist seal to pull out a new Katana, "Worry about yourself." He answers in an annoyed tone, Katana in hand. "Be aware, he's gained some Six Paths chakra, somehow."

"Okay, but do you have to be such a…" Naruto's babblings are interrupted by Madara.

Madara needs to hurry this along before more annoyances enter the fray. "Enough of you. I am Uchiha Madara!" He's declaring with hands postured at his sides. "I have fought thousands of battles against opponents more skilled than you." His arms drop as he gathers a calm and eery visage.

His right eye morphs from the Sharingan into the Rinnegan while his left eye changes into the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan. "You have but a mere grain of experience in the desert. You're sorely mistaken to stand before me yet again. However, I accept you as an obstacle. Now come, come kill me, before I kill you."

Both Naruto and Sasuke didn't have the time to think about what Madara had said, he was already gone, reappearing right in front of them, crouched down like a snake ready to strike. Sasuke can see a space-time around Madara. "He traded places with his shad…" Sasuke is given a spinning heel kick that lands across his jaw from the left, sending him sliding back.

Following the momentum of the kick around and twisting his body like a spring, he delivers a swift heel kick into Naruto's abdomen - who kneels over the kick as blood and saliva fly out his mouth.

Madara drops his foot and follows up with a right hook into the jaw, snapping the neck to the side. He then lunches forward, putting his entire body weight behind an open hand left jab to the throat.

Naruto recovers in time to block the jab with a sweeping left palm. Madara takes hold of Naruto's elbow with his right hand and recovers his left hand to the bottom of Naruto's wrist.

With a twist of the arm, Naruto is thrown off balance and Madara uses his body as a foundation, swinging his right leg over Naruto's left shoulder and setting his left leg into Naruto's popliteal fossa, causing him to fall to one knee. He yanks back on the wrist while pushing down on the elbow, a nasty pop can be heard. The elbow and the shoulder have dislocated.

Madara takes his hands back from the arm and into a viper palm, striking repeatably in the neck, shoulder, and back, hitting pressure and chakra points, the spine, and tearing ligaments.

Taking a small jump onto Naruto's shoulder and head, he kicks off into the air, pushing Naruto into the ground and landing some distance away in one big flip. Bolts of lightning fly over Naruto, where he once occupied and towards his new location. "Chidori Stream" Sasuke calls out, rushing past Naruto with his lighting covered katana.

Madara dodges the streaks of lightning and even a couple swings of the katana with relative ease, backing up and sidestepping away from the blade and arcs of lightning, analyzing Sasuke's attack patterns and weaknesses in the meantime.

His eyes veer down to Sasuke's feet. _"His lower half is unguarded when his balance is shifted to his right leg to attack."_ He recognizes. A cut appears on his cheek as his eyes move back up to follow the blade more closely.

As Sasuke brandishes his katana horizontally, hoping to bisect Madara in two, he feels outclassed in a close quarters fight. It's clear to him that up until this point his superior speed and power are leaving Madara little choice but to dodge and retreat, and it will only be a matter of time until he lands a fatal blow and finishes this fight.

Madara faints under the swing, falling off his feet and onto his left hand as he stops his backward momentum and pushes between Sasuke's legs, grabbing the right leg with both his hands as he goes through, before swinging around and applying his momentum to drag the leg forward, causing Sasuke to do a half split with his left knee on the ground and his right leg fully extended.

Reorientating himself on the ground he takes a backward kip up position and darts up, kicking Sasuke in the face as he goes over. landing behind Sasuke.

Sasuke's vision goes black as he falls backward. He vaguely feels his neck clutched at the side, supporting him from falling on his back.

At first, he thinks it's Naruto, but, his vision returns. Madara is standing over him, a grasp around his throat, his fist swinging down over and over again into his vision. He's being beaten to death and the feelings are starting to come back. He can feel the warm blood running down his face and the stinging pain return. He has to get away.

Madara continues, drawing back one final time with his hand opening flat to glow a deepish blue, a sharp point forming at his fingertips. These two's durability and healing capabilities are surpassing the damage he can do to both at the same time, he'll have to kill one.

Sasuke's injuries are already healing without any conscious effort, and the damage itself is minimal, even though Madara's punches have enough force to break the Susanoo. He slices downwards, knowing it would surely kill if it connects, but, Sasuke teleports out of his hold and directly in front of him, a pebble - to which Sasuke switched place with - now in Madara's hand.

His eyes widen and his attention goes towards the sky. From above, Naruto comes down with a downwards heel kick covered in potent blue chakra. He responds - seeing how he has little choice - by shielding himself with both arms to avoid being crushed. He resists the weight placed upon the kick. The ground cracks below him, subsequently forcing him to stay in one spot.

Sasuke recovers and looks over to see Naruto pining down Madara. He sighs, reaching to his storage seal for two tantos.

Naruto loosens the kick and swings down his truth-seeking staff. Madara summons his own truth-seeking staff to slide it across Naruto's staff, allowing him to dip below and reach Naruto's legs to grab hold of it and fling him into the ground. Madara then leans back to avoid a tanto, although a second one clips his side when he leaps backward.

Sasuke follows him, two more tanto in each hand. _"「Limbo: Border Jail」" Madara_ internally calls out. Sasuke is struck in the body halting him as he looks into the limbo dimension to see himself engaged by two limbo clones at once, assaulting him with Taijutsu, leaving him with little to do but dodge and evade.

Madara moves to engage Naruto behind him. "You're mine...Shadow Clones!" Naruto puts his hands in a cross seal.

The clones surround Madara who gives a grin while putting his own hands into a cross seal. "You're not the only one that can do that." Many wood clones spring out of his body, landing all around, a two to one ratio in his favor.

His head develops a slight pain. He needs to hurry. "Let the final act of this reality commence!" The wood clones declare as each one is enveloped in their own individual Susanoo, engaging the shadow clones, creating dust and destroying the area as the battles rages.

He waits, arms crossed within the shattering, dust-filled area. His eyes scanning back and forth and his EMS spinning to read into the very future. The feeling of the vibrations and sounds of battle all around. Giant orange chakra hands suddenly burst through the cloud of dust from multiple angles, trying to ensnare him.

He jumps into the air flipping over, on, and around each one with precision. He lands after pushing off one to gain some distance. However, his footing is that of chakra created quick mud. He quickly starts sinking into the ground as Sasuke rushes him with a blade in hand.

Blue chakra bursts the ground around him and rises to unbelievable proportion as Madara activates the Perfect Susanoo. Sasuke is blown back by the wind, purple chakra bursting around him as he also activates his Perfect Susanoo. A bright orange light shines from the within the smoke, revealing Naruto in the Kurama avatar.

The Susanoo of Madara stands at nearly twice the height of Sasuke's Susanoo and the Kurama avatar of Naruto. "What are you after Madara?!" Sasuke asks as he unsheathes his Susanoo blade, which wafts away the smoke below. "What do you mean by the final act of this reality?! The Infinite Tsukuyomi failed, so what are you after?"

Unsheathing his Susanoo sword, he replies. "Same as you, to change the fate of this world. You know, I've lived a very long time and I can see the path you're on. You only need me out of your way, and one other." He pauses with a glance over to Naruto. "So…I'll make you an offer: I no longer hold any stakes here, so leave me, and I will disappear, and you'll be unhampered."

Putting his hand into a cross seal, three more Kurama avatars pop into existence next to Naruto. "Sasuke you're not going to listen to him are you?!" He asks in an accusing tone.

Sasuke stares at Madara for a little bit, ignoring Naruto as he thinks about it, "And what are you planning on disappearing to?" He asks. This gives Naruto a lingering chill down his spine.

Madara lets out a clever hum. "You take me for a fool then. I know you're holding back power for another fight. I can see through you like an open book. I reckon the resurrections of Indra are alike in many ways."

Sasuke widens his eyes. "No way. If you know about Indra without talking to 'him', then I definitely can't trust you."

"Sasuke! You weren't actually listening to him right?!" Naruto asks from behind.

Sasuke glances over with a hiddenly-anxious expression. "No, I was just trying to get more information on what his plan is."

As soon as Sasuke lets his guard down to look back, Madara held up his hand towards him, as an ash bone - the same kind Kaguya used - protrudes from his palm, making a sickening squelching sound before shooting out at high speed from within his Susanoo. He didn't know why he knew how to do that, but it didn't matter at the moment.

"Look out!" Naruto warns Sasuke who immediately turns back to Madara only to see the ash bone hit his Susanoo; It instantly shatters with no chance to dodge as the Susanoo dissolves around him stopping him from swapping places.

"Sasuke!" Naruto forms a TSO staff into his right hand and flings it towards Sasuke in hopes of blocking the ash bone, a huge smoke screen is kicked up blocking Sasuke from view.

Naruto's eyes widen as he releases what kicked up the smoke. He tries to reach in time but he and his clones are struck by a blue ethereal sword, sending the clones and the original flying back to the ground.

Wood pillars spike up from the ground when they land, wrapping around them and tightening as they struggle in vain. "That really is handy Jutsu for dealing with stubborn beasts." Madara laughs from his position taking another step towards them before stopping.

His Susanoo's wings begin to take form and spread to its massive wingspan. He takes off into the sky, propelling himself upwards with winds that shake the ground. He passes the Tailed Beasts along the way. They stop and watch him fly by.

With a deadly serious expression, he bothers them no mind, there is nothing they can do. _"It's time to begin the Summoning!"_

 **...**

"...that is the story of how my sons fought. However, I have faith that Naruto can settle the difference between my two sons." Hagoromo explains to Sakura and Kakashi having finished the long tale of Indra and Ashura. Both Sakura and Kakashi nod in agreement as they too have equal amounts of faith in Naruto.

Releasing his Susanoo far above, Madara falls to the ground below, landing in silent grace, interrupting the group and their conversation. A blue aura swirls around him as he methodically walks towards them. "Madara!" Kakashi alerts and tries to get into a fighting stance, although he's far too exhausted to do anything of use. Sakura moves to support him from falling.

"I'll take care of this." Sakura gently releases Kakashi and dashes towards Madara with her seal activated.

"No don't!" Kakashi desperately tries to reach out for her but he falls to his face and blacks out.

Madara lets Sakura swings at him, which he blocks with his right hand with ease, not moving in the slightest.

Punch after punch and kick after kick, he simply dodges and blocks without moving. Growing bored quickly, he backhands her across the face, nearly snapping her neck. "I avoided killing you, be grateful." He says casually and with a flick of his right hand she's immediately blown away by a gravitational force, harshly landing into unconsciousness some distance away.

He turns to the sage, stepping over Kakashi during his approach. "So, the Sage. I've been wanting to talk to you." He says with no emotion. "It's a shame I don't have much time."

"Madara...you've changed." Hagoromo's eyes sharpen as he claims this in his usual calm tone with a bit of apprehension. "What happened after Kaguya took over your body?"

"I am not too sure, yet. My chakra, no!" He looks at his body. "Not just my chakra. Something more is growing within me." He grabs his head. The pain he experienced earlier is coming back with a vengeance.

Knowing to hurry, he quickly goes through nine hand seals, slapping his hands together. _"「Fuinjutsu: Dead Demon Consuming Seal」"_ A circular Fuinjutsu pattern spreads over the ground. However, the most noticeable thing to him is the ominous energy behind him.

Shrugging off this fear he continues. He breezes through another set of hand seals, biting into his right arm to draw blood. He wipes the blood up with his left hand and begins writing a Fuinjutsu seal on his midsection with surprising complexity and speed; even the sage who was the creator of Fuinjutsu is in the dark as to what it could be.

"What are you plotting?" Hagoromo questions.

"Did you ever wonder what had Kaguya so afraid?" He finishes the seal. Hagoromo listens carefully. "There are many things out there, of course, the lapdogs of the Ōtsutsuki clan, but then there are some things that threaten the very fabric of our world, even I wouldn't be able to defend against such threats, nor would changing one planet matter if I couldn't."

He smiles cryptically. "What I am after now is two-fold, the same in many regards but grander." The Shinigami pierces his stomach causing him to falter for a moment.

The sealing that he had placed on his midsection starts to glow, changing shape as it spreads onto the Shinigami, stopping its movement as it continues to spread over its entire body. **"What are you doing?!"** The dark mystic voice of the reaper echoes from behind him. **"Do you intend to control me, human?!"**

Hearing this dark mystic voice behind gives him a shiver down his spine.

He turns his head to the side and replies with a small grin and a lack of respect behind his tone to the supposed shinigami. "Yes! I do. I based this formula on the mask that the Uzumaki clan created. However, I am going to put you to far better use than they ever could." He gives a low chuckle as the Reaper goes silent and is put under complete control.

"Who are you talking to?!" Hagoromo is more frustrated this time.

"I'm surprised that with your visual prowess you cannot tell for yourself. But, let me show you!" His eyes expand, his pupils dilating as the seals glow more intensely.

Hagoromo looks down; he feels a biting pain in his midsection. He sees an ethereal hand holding onto him. Following the hand back to its owner, he shivers. A being with the appearance of a reaper, which is exactly what it is, flouts ominously behind Madara, its hands outstretched, a blade sitting in its sharp maw.

Chakra leaches into the hand of the reaper. "I'll be taking back the chakra you stole to stay in the physical plain." Madara begins absorbing the chakra as Hagoromo becomes more spectral.

Naruto and Sasuke arrive just in time to see the Sage vanish from the physical plain and a white barrier erect around Madara. Naruto is about to attack but a firm hand on his shoulder stops him. "What are you doing Sasuke?!" He asks, looking back with anger. "He's right there!"

"Don't…I can't swap inside that barrier. That can only mean it's not connected to our Space-Time." Sasuke explains.

Naruto grows an enraged expression. "Then what are we supposed to do?!"

"There is nothing we can do." Sasuke replies with a shrug. "He is using something I've never seen before."

The sealing pattern within the barrier glows red as it spreads onto the barrier like a spider web. Madara smiles seeing everything going easier than expected. Taking notice of the two outside, he turns his attention towards them.

Naruto walks closer and moves his staff to touch the barrier. Once it makes contact it's vaporized with no resistance.

"Once this barrier was erected, it became impossible to interact with me on a physical level." Madara lets them know with no emotion.

Naruto paces back and forth at the edge of the barrier before spotting Sakura and Kakashi, running over to help them.

"It's almost time. This will be the last time you see me. Although it may be the last time you see anything, but that's neither here nor there." Madara says. A pulse exits into the surrounding area as the seals connect, echoing on in a strange way. Another pulse comes, and another in constant succession while increasing in pace.

"What is this?!" Naruto shields Kakashi and Sakura but he and Sasuke are having trouble staying on their feet.

Madara gestures to the barrier. "This jutsu was originally created by the Uzumaki clan so many years ago. Your father used this jutsu to split the Nine-Tails. This jutsu summons the reaper of death. However, I gained complete control over it. And now, I can separate my Space-Time from the rest, theoretically allowing me to travel in time."

Sasuke and Naruto are shocked at the thought of Madara going back in time. "What are you doing that for?!" Naruto asks.

"Believe what you wish about me, but know I did not want this." His voice takes a solemn tone and he glances downwards. "I originally planned on bringing everyone back to life with the samsara of heavenly life technique and putting them under the Infinite Tsukuyomi. But as you know…everything failed." He shakes his head in disappointment.

"My goal is to amass unimaginable power and knowledge." He clenches his fist, looking back up. "I will do all this with a vaster goal in mind." The pulses are getting stronger, forcing Naruto and Sasuke to their knees. The surrounding area is losing its color and starting to bend and twist. He slaps his hands together, the pulses immediately cease, regressing inwards.

Each one building into one super pulse with a gravitational force so strong that it bends space around it. The barrier losses its transparency and starts becoming a solid black sphere. Madara looks to Naruto and says some final words while he can still be seen. "Heavy as it may be, you've earned my interest, Naruto."

The pulse releases, slamming into the black sphere, condensing it past the Planck length, leaving nothing on the outside but dead silence and a crater in the ground as Naruto and Sasuke sit in awe. Suddenly a great flash of white light bursts forth from the point where the sphere had disappeared, covering everything and everyone in sight.

 ** **XxXx(Madara: The New Plan)xXxX****


	3. Arrival

**XxX**

 **XxX**

 **XxX**

 **XxXx(Madara: The New Plan)xXxX**

It's a few hours before dawn and the faintest signs of light are peering over the horizon, casting shadows equally as faint as the light. Along wooded trails, a young boy who appears to be around thirteen years of age walks with a girl a year or two younger. This boy goes by the name of Hiroi and accompanying him is his kid-sister Mika.

These two are children from the local village known simply as Tonohata village. Originally part of a family of six but no longer, accredited to their father's disappearance some time ago on a trading venture to a land that rests on the outskirts of the infamous peaks of demise, and with such a foreboding name many would assume him dead within the first week.

The young boy, however, didn't believe it at first, but weeks turned into months, and then into years, and soon, even he faltered. But it's not all bad, for Hiroi still has his mother Masaki, his elder sister Hatsune, his aforementioned younger sister Mika, and much to his distaste, his elder brother Kaba.

But make no mistake, it's not like he hates him outright, no not entirely. You see, shortly after his fathers death he secluded himself, becoming distant from the family, and it only served to upset him further when his elder brother tried to take over as the man of the house so to say, like his father was never going to return one day, shame that turned out to be the case.

When he eventually faced the harsh reality his family supported him all the way, and their bond grew closer because of it, although he still doesn't think Kaba has what it takes to live up to his father's name.

Mika rubs her eyes and looks up at her big brother. He holds fishing supplies consisting of a bait basket and two bamboo fishing poles, along with a leather knapsack strung around his waist, and clearly owns a look of someone in deep thought but she neither notices nor cares. "Hey," She yawns never having been awoken this early before. "why do I have to be up so early?"

He snaps out of his thought and replies half-heartedly, not really in the mood to invest the effort it takes to convince her. "Kaba asked me to teach you how to fish." He shrugs the bait basket well regretting the decision to bring extra supplies.

Hiroi's been the one fishing for the family for years, he's gotten rather adept at it for the most part. He'd assumed Mika would be attending housework or tending the crops for the family, but apparently, Kaba has other plans.

She drags her feet. "I don't wanna!" She complains in a slight tantrum as why should she have to wake up this early to do something she hasn't had to before. "Fish are slimy and gross."

It's been this way for a long time; the girl is spoiled, as compared to him always having to do the stuff that she didn't, but he turns around nonetheless.

This was supposed to be an easy and typical day. "What?!" He asks with a miffed expression. " Fish is your favorite food, or did you forget. Well, If you don't like it take it up with him. At least you like the pond, don't you?"

It was a desperate attempt to convince the stubborn kid but it might just work. She stands there looking the other way with a pout – cheeks buffed out to the max, making her displeasure known as he waits eagerly for a response. "Your right," She exhales, releasing her pout. "but I'm not touching any fish."

Facepalming with a groan at the silly behavior, he continues. "Alright, whatever." He heads on, glad to have avoided going home again as she happily trails behind.

 **...**

The two reach a large pond about two minutes later. Cutting through the bushes with his hand Hiroi sets down the supplies near the edge while Mika wonders off to play with some rocks.

He stretches out with a yawn as a skipping sound deflates the momentary peace. He seizes his head in frustration as another stone goes into the water, falling short of skipping across. "Hey!" He yells. Mika jumps. "Sorry," He says in a softer expression and tone. "our goal is to catch something to eat, not to waste time."

Mika flops down with a bashful expression adorning her face once again. He squeezes the bridge of his nose while internally screaming at the ruining of his beloved routine.

 _"Kaba, why did you make me bring her."_ At first, he thought it was as he said - "teach her about fishing." - It made sense, breakfast for them normally consisted of the things they made or found, with an assortment of vegetables grown from the farm and fish or wild game, but now he's thinking something along the lines of _"Prick did it to mess with me."_

He sighs. It's too late to change anyone's mind. "Okay let's learn how to tie a basic knot." He explains, reaching into his leather knapsack to get hooks and string, grabbing a little extra, figuring he would be restringing a few. He turns back seeing a semi-eager nod in return, perhaps this would be easier than he thought.

Hiroi goes through the basics of fishing with Mika, showing her several knots that could be used. It's twenty minutes later before she is able to get the knots down and tie it to the string without poking herself or "failing in epic fashion" as she called it.

"Yes!" She pumps her fist into the air, expressing her vast accomplishment to the morning creatures. Some birds nearby fly away in terror.

He facepalms and shakes his head. Over theatricals runs on the female side of the family. "Only fifty-eight knots left to learn..."

Mika deadpans. "Fifty-Eight! You're kidding me! How many ways can there be to tie a stupid knot?" She waves her hands around frantically to better get the point across.

"Okay…okay, I get it." He chuckles, having had his fun. "Ready?" He gestures towards the pole that she strung up herself. She snatches it up with a determined expression, forgetting any prior apprehension she may have had.

As the two make to cast a rather strange light shines above, increasing in intensity. Both look up as it's far too early for a light that bright, especially when taking into consideration that there's no orbiting celestial body for the planet as of yet.

The light fades and their eyes adjust. There is an orb of a solid blackish color, emanating crimson light around its edges, similar to the peak of an eclipse. Powerful winds flow from the orb shaking the surrounding tree. Grasping hold of Mika, Hiroi runs to the treeline nearby. Both peer from behind it to watch the object with curiosity, neither saying a word.

The light dies out shortly after, along with the breeze. Both wait in anticipation, but nothing happens. Gazing upwards with mouth wide agape, Mika is the first to speak. "What do you think it is?"

"I don't know, but I think we should leave…" Hiroi is interrupted when the object pulses which vibrates them in an unusual way and collapses in on itself, dissipating into nothingness, but not before emerges quickly; a humanoid figure splashes into the water below with considerable force.

"That looked like a person!" He says in a panic, bolting to the edge of the pond and searching desperately, running back and forth, again and again, unable to see anything even as the water calmed. He steps back, He can't believe how much of a coward he was there; he just let that person drown.

Suddenly a gloved hand surfaces to dig into the soil and drag the body of a man out. Water splashes down his body as he shakily rises onto his elbows and then his arms, coughing violently. With as much focus as he can muster, he gets to his feet, breathing heavily and clearly in pain.

Madara has arrived, but what is his destination? "Did I, make it?" Madara throws his head back with a long exhale. Soaked hair covers his face, splitting down his nose leaving only one eye visible, but eerily covered by shadows. He takes large gasps of air in, lips curling into a small smile regardless of the pain he - and particularly his head - faced.

He's done the impossible and managed to escape and break free from the shackles of time itself, and made it back to his childhood days.

His face then gains a distasteful look, turning his attention to his body the reason is shown. _"Tsk, a parting gift."_ A long deep slash that leaks excessive amounts of blood adorns his chest. He falls back down to his hands and knees, coughing blood this time. The pain increases dramatically.

The wounds aren't normal, otherwise, they'd barely be noticed in the time it would take to heal. No, these wounds are deeper than the physical aspect.

It was something that happened during his transition, a momentary lapse in control as he was pushed past bounds even the reaper was unable to go through, but it still managed to get a passing hit. It could be over, a hit from the reaper is bad luck personified and it may prove fatal even for him.

The sound of a twig snapping to his immediate turns his gaze to the unnoticed and unspoken presence. It's a small boy talking to an even smaller girl before she runs off. Neither is wearing clothes that fit what children wore in his era.

A small detail, yes, but it's immensely concerning. He feels the pit of his stomach drop. The unsettling feeling building up upon countless others.

Hiroi looks back at Madara having sent his sister to the village for help. "Are you okay? He approaches step by step with caution. "Help is on the way if you're hurt. That was a stupid question, of course, you're hurt." He laughs nervelessly, scratching the back of his neck.

The village isn't far away so help should be here at any moment, but this man could be dangerous or as it appears to be, on death's door.

Madara signs and bites down the unsettling feelings. "Child, what land are we in?" He asks with sharp eyes from beneath his blanket of drenched midnight hair. He's got something to confirm.

Hiroi is confused for a second but answers none-the-less. "We're in the land of Ancestors near the north border of the land of That." He's also surprised by the man's calm voice in a situation he couldn't imagine. I mean how can anyone be that calm when they're bleeding that much?

The land of That he knows about, During his era, it was a Senju controlled region bordering the land of Fire and the land of Rivers. However, the land of Ancestors he's never heard of. _"Wait, the tablet." E_ yes widening at the recalled information.

What's gone wrong, everything was set up accordingly, but something went wrong. Then, it connects; he'd used the chakra of Hagoromo to construct the jutsu and that chakra must have acted as an anchor to time, a time different than his childhood, a time that Hagoromo lived, at least that's his guess.

"What happened to you?" Hiroi pulls him from his speculations. "You just appeared from nowhere."

It would indeed be like he appeared from nowhere from the outside perspective, although the truth of his travels cannot be described to beings who remain tethered by time.

He parts his lips to reply with a lie but is then struck with another wave of pain far worse than ones prior. He shudders at the pain, quickly losing the strength to support himself as he drops into his own pooling blood. He hears the sounds of an approaching group of people as his consciousness fades, unable to focus on anything but pure pain.

The concerned mother and elder brother of Hiroi have arrived, along with a few villagers who must have been rallied up to join them. Both Masaki and Kaba check him over from head to toe, ensuring he is unharmed as they both ask him "what's going on" in unison.

It wasn't the time for details. "Look!" He points towards the man. "He's hurt really bad."

Kaba gasps at the sight. "Quick!" He jumps into action, moving to the man's shoulders. He'll need to act fast, the blood, the blood is overwhelming his senses with its distinct smell of fleshy iron, but he manages to drag him out. "One of you go get the doctor. We need to be careful in moving him as it will accelerate the blood loss, but it's the only option at this point."

The villagers do exactly as Kaba says because of his medical training from his close relationship with the village doctor Watanagi, and two being an overall extraordinary respected young lad.

Hiroi tries to help but is stopped. "We got this covered. Go to the house and prepare a room." Again, Hiroi has been ordered around by Kaba.

Kaba and the other men begin to handle Madara. He can feel himself being picked up, moved, and carried off somewhere as he drifts in and out of unconsciousness, before finally succumbing to the darkness.

* * *

Two weeks have passed since Madara had appeared in critical condition, and subsequently brought back to Tonohata village. It's been two weeks filled with many strange happenings.

On the first day - the day of his arrival - he was rushed to be checked over by a, or should I say the only doctor. Nothing was wrong, not a hair out of place. The wounds from earlier that day had up and vanished, the dry blood that covered him being the only proof injury at all.

Another day went by, another, and another. It was becoming clear that he wasn't destined to wake anytime soon. The doctor did more examinations throughout this time but resulted in similar findings.

It wouldn't be long before changes occurred. Strange symbols manifested on his body on the fifth day: nine black magatamas in rows of three with a black multi-circular symbol above surrounding a centered dot on his back, and a group of black magatama from the ends of his collarbones, connecting through his chest like a wide necklace.

A day after, on the six-day, the same circular pattern that rests on his back but with the slight altercation of red in between each black line appeared in the middle of his forehead. And when the first week had passed, his long black hair turned a grayish crimson. This was a mystery that didn't concern the family, outside of his health.

The rest of the village didn't share that outlook, they've become fearful of what his appearance might mean, and the consequence nursing him to health may present. Demon, monster, sign from God, such words are being thrown around. A dire situation is at hand before he can even awake.

 **…**

Another day has passed into anew. Masaki currently heads for the room which contains Madara, a bucket of water and a rag in hand. She walks with intent, maybe excitement. "I wonder if today's the day he wakes." She ponders halfheartedly not knowing if he'll wake at all. She enters the room and moves to the bed, setting aside the bucket.

She looks at Madara, only his steady breathing distinguishing him from a corpse. His long crimson hair flows down his chiseled body and the sheets like a sea of blood spilled over pure white sand. The contrast is strikingly beautiful, something she has thought many times.

In fact, he's taller and more muscular than any other man she's ever laid eyes on. Maybe it's because of her husband's disappearance that such shameful desires are surfacing. _"It looks like he could wake up at any moment."_ She pauses before bending down to soak a rag in the bucket, straining it out as she pulls the sheet down to let it rest at his waist.

Masaki hardly stops herself from staring with a slight blush; it felt dirty. Like a predator, she lusts over a helpless man whose very life is in her hands.

However, there's still something she hasn't done. The idea of this something made certain areas on her tingle. Just a small peak. It's eating up at her. _"It's not wrong if 'I' do it right?"_ She kept telling herself while rubbing knees together.

Masaki figured that she was also tasked with washing his entire body, along with taking care of him, just a quick check-over to make sure everything's in order. Yeah, that would be the responsible thing to do.

Once safely confirming that no one is watching with a glance around, she reaches for the sheets, intent on lowering them to do a "check-over", but her hand with great surprise is lightly yet unmovingly taken by the wrist as soon as it makes contact with the sheets.

She changes to a color not unlike a tomato as she realizes that the man has woken up just as she was doing something very dirty. She looks into the calm black eyes that stare back, unwavering in their piercing analytical behavior.

Awakened, at last, not to mention by a woman trying to sneak a peek at his lower region with a massive blush plastered on her shame stricken face.

Comical is the only word for this situation. "Are you the one responsible for taking care of me?" He asks in a calm tone while he stares at her shocked and embarrassed expression with no returning emotion visible, although he had an abundance hidden. He glances down and continues. "Could I get clothes?"

Releasing his hold, she quickly stutters out a response. "Y-Yes, R-Right away!" With that quickly said, she exits the room as fast as humanly plausible. Madara pins the sheets to the waist and gets up with a slight groan.

A push with a hand to the side of his head garners a sharp crack. Madara has no idea what happened during his time passed out, or even how long that time is, but, it seemed to have worked itself out somehow. He groans again and lets out a long breath. His body is loose, the strains lifted, the weaknesses withdrawn.

Trailing a finger over the symbols on his chest he realizes the changes that have occurred. He has Six Path's powers and his chakra supply is incomprehensible similarly to being the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki.

However, the Ten-Tails was a force of chaos that tears at its Jinchūriki by solely existing, this is why it's improbable to not instantly be torn apart from the inside and die trying to tame it. Not being burdened by the Ten-Tails would make his power incomprehensible, even Madara, although simplistic in concept to tame the Ten-Tails, was still weakened at that difficult task _._

This brings a burning question into the mix, if not the Ten-Tails, then where did this power originate. _"I should…"_ The door reopens tearing him from his thoughts.

Misaki holds clothes consisting of a white kimono with a wide black cloth belt, a black collard shoulder cape, along with the clothes he had on arrival: black pants, gloves, and open-toed combat boots as she enters the room. "I think these will fit you, and here are the ones you had. I'll just put them on the bed for yo…"

She stops for a second. The sheet does little to hid his lower abs and obliques that cut out from the sheet, leading to his well-defined abs marked by his rib-cage, chest, and shoulders. She stops her stare and sets the clothes on the bed with a blush still present, avoiding eye contact altogether. She bows awkwardly before exiting the room.

Weathered by countless battles, lonely nights, death, and even reanimation, a pair of black gloves have been with him through every step and action he's taken. He felt naked without them really, so he throws them on first, then the rest.

Once fully dressed, a loud growl echoes from his stomach. When putting thought behind it, the last time he ate food was slightly before being connected to the Gedo Mazo to extend his life past the natural length after his fight with Hashirama in the valley of the end, some sixty years ago. This is the first time he's been hungry in that time.

A wonderful smell permeates the room. His enhanced sense of smell indulges in that new scent, increasing his lustful hunger in till it's too irresistible to resist any longer, and so instead of fighting he follows the scent, exiting and moving along the hallways. He takes note of how lavish the home truly is for the time.

During that long slumber the memories that had caused him such pain and likely the reason he was even slumbering in the first place, became increasingly easier to understand, although make no mistake it wasn't easy.

If anyone but Madara were to be subjected to the same, their mind would likely shatter into a million different pieces with the distinct lack of ability to differentiate between the memories of themselves and that of others, they'd be insane.

Even so, he's only able to make out enough to determine he's one or two thousand years off his desired time, definitely wasn't as planned, but beggars can't be choosers, it could, in fact, be favorable depending on whether he missed a few crucial events or not but that'd be something he'd have to find out.

He has to duck under a door frame as he reaches the smell, laying eyes on the women from earlier and two children, the same ones he saw on arrival, the young girl and the slightly older boy. "The Kusumoto family welcomes you," Misaki says. He watches with slight interest as she pulls the youngest girl between her bosom. "This is my youngest daughter Mika."

"It's nice to meet you." Mika says with quick timid glances at him from in between her mother's ample bosom.

Laughing off her daughter's timidness, she gestures towards her son and continues, "This is my youngest son, Hiroi." Madara knew something was different about Hiroi as soon as he laid eyes on him. Hiroi's hands shake ever so slightly.

This shaking is attributed to the boy's strange affinity with nature. He's sensing the overwhelming power akin to standing in front of an infinitely deep underwater abyss with thousands of monstrous sea-creature enthusiastic to drag him to the deepest point of infinity.

"Run, danger, death!" Every fiber of his body screaming to escape the man in front of him, the man in his own house.

A nudge in the side by his mother takes him out of his stupor. "Sorry, I spaced out. It's nice to see you are doing better mister." He tries to laugh it off, rubbing the back of his head as he manages to get the shaking under control, but for not as one glance into cold investigating eyes, narrowed and piercing his very soul, his shaking returns.

Madara had narrowed his eyes because he knew. _"This child, something about him…is different."_ He makes a mental note to investigate further.

"Likewise, it's nice to meet you." He pauses, lowering himself slightly. "Mika, Hiroi, and…" He turns his gaze to the older women. "I never did get your name."

Realizing she forgot to give her own name due to the earlier perverted event and eagerness to introduce her family only serves to raise the embarrassment. "My name is Misaki." She tells him with a small blush.

"You have a nice family, Ms. Misaki." He raises himself to his full height. "Can I ask where I am?"

"Certainly. You're in Tonohata village within th…" She's interrupted.

"The land of Ancestors." He intervenes with a hand caressing his chin while recalling prior events. Mika takes the moment to walk up to him and tug at his clothes to garner his attention.

He looks at her with a raised eyebrow. "What's your name, mister?" Her tone of voice is adorable and innocent.

He gives a small back of the throat chuckle, unable to resist the erg to pat her head gently with his gloved hand. "My name huh, I suppose I also forgot." He hums in thought as he decides a name to tell along with a fabricated backstory should he need one. "I'm Okumura, Ryuu Okumura."

"Mr. Okumura, what happened to you?" Hiroi asks in a respectful tone. Both Misaki and Mika wait for the answer that intrigues them equally as much. He gazes down to the floor as if in deep thought.

It would be comical to see the reaction to the truth; I'm a time traveler who ascended to Godhood and fought the entire world but still failed to reform it thousands of years from now.

That wouldn't go over very well, would it? "I can't remember, the furthest memory I have is of battle; a village being burned. I can still hear the screaming of woman and children. Everything just went black and I was dragging myself from a pond."

Misaki is horrified at the horror this man must have gone through. "That sounds like a nightmare. You don't remember anything about yourself?" Misaki heads behind the counter, checking a fire and the pots suspended over that with a metallic grill.

He shrugs, following her with his eyes as she stirs a pot. "For now."

She moves contents of rice from another pot onto four wooden plates, dropping various unknown spices with it. "I'm sorry, I couldn't imagine not knowing where I'm from," Her eyes narrow, "or who I even was." She says with a saddened look. Grabbing the soup pot as she scoops the curry that it holds onto the rice before bringing them to the table.

"It's not your fault nor your problem." He replies honestly. The two children take sits at their chosen chairs at the table.

"Nonsense! When you're in my care, of course, it's my problem." she puts her hands on her hips. A half-second flash of his mother appears over her before dispersing. She pulls back another chair at the table with a smile. "Now, you must be hungry, come eat." He approaches the seat, hesitating with an outstretched hand that half reaches the chair.

The truth is a painful condition, many have wished to stay ignorant. When exposed one may find themselves devastated for various reasons. Madara's lived a false truth up till now doing terrible things in search of his answer, and admittedly he does plan on resetting the clock to do similar things in search of a new answer.

However, he never accounted for this hesitation. A line stands before him – Is this okay? Is it okay to interact and be like a normal human being regardless of being a monster who's killed hundreds of thousands over the decades he's lived, one that doesn't require food, one that'll live for eternity and has fought for seemingly longer than that?

A hand touches his arm. Another person image flashes over Misaki, this time someone different. He hasn't seen this one in a long time, but he could never forget. "Is everything okay?" She asks. The illusion dissipating.

"I am." He replies with a small but genuine smile. He's going to need to evolve along with his goal if he's gonna truly be the savior he desires. He grabs hold of the chair and takes his seat, leaving her to take the seat across from him.

The food looks better than good, his mouth salivates at the smells that touch him. The rest wait eagerly on him which he comes to notice. "Thank you, for the food." He says with a twitching eye at the unfamiliar words. He picks up a wooden spoon and takes his first taste of food in a very long time.

The flavor, the depth, and the spice mix into an explosion of flavor. He takes another bite, another, and another. It quickly turns into a ravenous eating spectacle. He leaves the plate without a single grain of rice as the rest have barely started.

Mika clamors at her new role model and tries to eat faster, only resulting in a coughing fit. "What are you doing?!" Hiroi pats her back. "Eat slower, you idiot!"

"Whatever." She replies with a pout but has hidden appreciation Having finished the food, Misaki begins taking the dishes away to be washed at a later date, which would mean bringing it to a nearby stream seeing how personal plumbing doesn't particularly exist in mass.

Mika continues bugging Madara, pulling him from his chair and onto the ground, asking question after question to which he answers mainly with a grunt or "I can't remember.". But, he puts up with it, finding it tolerable, if at the very least endearing. Hiroi and Misaki also join in, asking their own questions as Hiroi manages to lose some of those earlier feelings of dread.

Although this was equally an opportunity of his own to ask questions and discovers some key details along with learning more about this family and comparing it with the memories of Kaguya.

Three millennia is a long time; that's the difference between when he'd planned to arrive, and reality – a predicament, but not necessarily a bad one; coming back so early affords him ample time to understand his new boundary conditions, limitations if any.

And most importantly, an opportunity to interact with the very beginning of chakra, the Sage of the Six Paths, the foundations of the Uchiha and Senju, and much more if he so chooses. A small grin expands over his face as he realizes that. "So Mr. Okumura…" Mika tries to say something but is interrupted.

"Mother!" A fast-approaching cheery female voice echoes through the halls. A younger woman enters the room with Kaba trailing behind. "I'm finally home." This is Hatsune; a sixteen-year-old with short blue hair and a body similar to her mother if only slightly smaller.

Mika tackles into the belly of her elder sister squeezing around her waist. Hatsune kneels over as a gasp escapes her. "Whoa, not so fast." She laughs, patting the head of her little sister whom she hasn't seen in over two weeks due to a trading venture with another village.

She feels a hand on her shoulder. Following the hand she sees Kaba, looking ahead with wide eyes. "You look like you saw a gho-" Her eyes also go wide as she sees the reason. "-st"

"Welcome home." Misaki hugs her daughter and releases it. She continues with a gesture towards Madara. "He actually woke up today, a mere hour ago actually."

Hatsune's eyes widen even further. "You mean he's been out for the whole two weeks I was gone?!" She's in disbelief, that was far longer then she expected, something must have been really wrong with him.

Kaba is equally surprised that Madara is awake, he thought him dead in all but body, a vegetable doomed to rot away slowly. "I thought he may have been brain dead, but I guess...I was wrong."

Madara dips his head down and chuckles slightly. "I sure hope so."

Kaba gets in front of Hatsune in a defensive posture. The man was alarmingly intimidating and Kaba has no idea what he's like or who he was. "Stay behind me."

Hatsune moves Mika behind them. "Is he dangerous?"

Madara looks up with a bored confused expression. "Stop it!" Mika runs from behind them and to Madara's side to cling onto his hand with a fury of emotions such as embarrassment and anger, "He's not dangerous. Mr. Okumura is very nice. He's my new big brother!" She sticks out her tongue at Kaba.

"New big brother?" Kaba exhales in a devastated tone. "Then what does that make me?!"

"Old, stinky, annoying big brother." She replies. Kaba always and still is a sis-con, although not in a sexual way. in the overly attached sort of way, so it's not surprising that he's reduced into a sopping mess, each word strikes him like a thousand daggers.

"Okay enough of that, we're not adopting and you're being rude to our guest." Misaki gives a cringed look over at Kaba. "And learn some self-respect for yourself, Kaba."

Kaba dies on the inside from the shame to the point of standing in a corner and muttering to himself.

 _"That was certainly an interesting exchange."_ Madara put his hands forward and out, a small sign of peace in many ways and times, showing one isn't armed so too speak. "There's no need to fear me. I'm not much for hurting people with no reason behind it."

Kaba exhales in relief from his corner. Hatsune approaches Madara. "Then it's nice to meet you…" She cocks her head to the side and hums. "Mr. Okumura?"

Madara gives her a quick once over before answering. "That's right, Ryuu Okumura."

"My name's Hatsune, don't bother with formalities. Do you mind if I call you Ryuu?" She asks in a semi-seductive tone while taking a momentary glance at her mother with a cheeky half-smile. She receives a nod of consent.

Misaki narrows her eyes. Hatsune clearly didn't understand the battlefield she just stepped within.

"So Mr. Okumura, what happened to you to end up up the way we found you?" Kaba starts up the conversation. With a gesture to follow, he says. "Walk with me and I can show you around well I hear what you have to say." As the two begin to walk around the house with the other in toe, Madara explains his lack of memories yet again.

He learns of the ludicrous - although not too far from the truth - theories the village had made when he remained comatose, and subsequently he's enlightened on the segregation the family has undergone.

Some even going so far to try to have him thrown to the wind in hopes of avoiding the wrath of the Rabbit Goddess; a rumor that had spread throughout this land, and as far as the people were concerned it was a god with untold power.

Ironic, that a being surpassing that which they revere as a god is right beneath their nose – but then again, he expected it; humans no matter what the era, are foolish, imperfect creatures who claim superiority, yet show the contrary.

Kaba also tells him of his physical condition and changes and asked if he had any clue for the cause. In truth, he had no idea, only theories, and a hypothesis. He needs to seclude himself from these people to test his condition.

So, why hasn't he left already? Why masquerade in this village like a clown? For one, Madara knew that it wouldn't be beneficial to try to change yourself if you live in a state of repeated actions in constant limbo, that's insanity. However, that isn't the only, nor the main reason. There's a nearly immeasurable amount of consequences lacking "delicacy" could cause.

It's all down to time, it's a finical concept if the recent misshapes are anything to go from. Him taking action this far back could and most likely will have unforeseen consequences, at the moment, for the time he can't predict these consequences, it wouldn't be wise to risk it. In fact, he may have already irreparably changed the future for all he knows.

And in a worst-case, his actions may bring the attention of a powerful being like the rabbit goddess, known to a select few as Kaguya Ōtsutsuki. It's not like he fears discovery, but fighting isn't the goal, not without a fully fleshed-out reason, and he can't begin to layout the foundation for that reason without understanding his new limits.

Deciding this little tour has gone on long enough, he stops and looks out from the pathway he was walking along and into the garden. "My appearance has caused you…trouble, and yet you didn't kill me whilst I slept. I can repay you…" He's interrupted.

Hatsune wraps her arms around his and squeezes it into her breasts. "It's really no problem!" Madara shows no sign of notice, although he's aware of the situation, he can hear her heartbeat rise and can, unfortunately, detect almost every single detail - both internal and external - of all living creatures, though the pheromones in the air are rather, obvious.

"How would you know, you weren't even here," Kaba remarks bitterly.

She shoots him a dirty look and he quickly looks away. "What was that?" She asks in a sickly sweet tone. "I couldn't hear you."

He huffs in disbelieve. "I bet." He replies, knowing not to push it.

Misaki steps in between the two and speaks. "Despite what he says it really wasn't a problem. I always believed…well, we all believe, that if someone has the power to change something that's wrong, or to lend a hand, then they have a moral obligation to do so." The whole family looks at Madara from behind with a nod of approval.

He glances up at the red sky well-remaining silent. _"A moral obligation to do so"_ He recounts the words slowly.

"Hey, Ryuu, why don't you and I go to the bathhouse together?." Hatsune abruptly asks.

"What?!" Kaba yells. "Are you stupid or something, even if they're separated by sex that's just..."

"Now now, there's no need to call her stupid." Misaki says, but blushes when she remembers that she never did give Madara that bath. _"that's right I was supposed to give him…I just..."_ Her blush deepens a few shades of red.

"Why not?!" She turns back to Madara. "Don't you want to go?"

He takes his attention from the sky and towards Hatsune. He could use a bath being mostly human or at the very least contains all the inner workings of one, but it could also give him someplace to meditate and relax for a moment. Before he can say anything though the cheery voice of Mika is made known. "Why don't we just all go together." She suggests.

"I guess it's settled then, we're all going together…yay." Hatsune is slightly annoyed at having to go with the rest of her family, normally she'd enjoy going with them but right now it just feels like they're getting in the way, she didn't understand these feelings herself.

As this little excursion was set into motion, Madara was told to wait at the entrance, he didn't really care why. To be honest, he was already drowning out this insignificant subplot. He had more important matters that he could focus on at a quicker pace if he was alone. Once his patience was truly tested everyone returned and they quickly left.

Madara who has been saturated in darkness is struck by the powerful lights that penetrate the nearing darkness of dusk as they exit into the outside. The place he left behind resembles a monastery of sorts. It rests at the highest point in a mountainous region, giving a perfect view of the ever-expansive lands.

There are people working in the fields below as the last rays of light cut over the mountains and valleys. Stands and shops with services and products for sale are the main sources of light with lanterns hung upon strings and the shops themselves, illuminating the town in orange light.

Travelers pass through with caravans or shops on wheels, children run around lividly and carefree, monks praying for some fictional god – a successful village, all and all. "Impressive, right?" Kaba asks. "Our father was the one who made the village like this."

Madara can see the persecuting glances already. Is this the village that he envisioned? Did it really shape out as their father wanted? "It looks peaceful, at a glance. But…"

"He's dead." Misaki says this with a matter of fact tone but that tone of bitter sadness that comes from losing a loved one was present.

Then it's true after all, a vision twisted in absence from an outside force most likely. Madara knows the dangers of a vision that lacked continued guidance. "I see. I wager he was a good man, one who cared deeply for his family."

"He was, but let's just move on, okay." Hatsune says in a happy-sad sort of way, now holding onto him slightly tighter as they move through the village.

Despite the nice outwards appearance of the village, an unsettling feeling definitely lingers just beneath the surface. An eery oppression judging from the way the people react to him: parents grab their children, shops close, disgusted or fearful glances are shot in their direction, people leave in a hurry, priests yell nonsensical's from their gospels.

The tension is palpable. His appearance in the open does little but agitate the situation, or for a few women to show some sort of interest before repeating the aforementioned actions. In all honesty, he isn't truly bothered, but it angers him that someone else is already suffering from his actions.

 **…**

It took a few moments to reach the place. A wooden building with courtyards divided and surrounded by bamboo walls, and an entrance that leads to two doors, a blue and pink curtain hanging over each with the symbol for male and female, a front lobby with a reception desk of sorts just before those.

Mika bolts ahead to ring the bell at the reception desk. A tan gray-haired slightly fat older man exits from the back. "Yes yes, I'm here." He answers lazily.

Mika jumps up and down to see over the counter. "Hello, Yuji!" She says ecstatically.

"Oh, hello young lady!" The now named Yuji leans against the counter after calling her by the usual nickname. "What can I do you for today?"

Misaki approaches with the others in-toe. "To unwind from an eventful day." She says.

"Ah, if it isn't the boss herself!" He says turning to the others and laying eyes on Madara. "Wow, is that…?" He's interrupted.

"One and only." Misaki establishes.

He hums well gripping his bearded chin. "Sharp look. You sure don't disappointing as this so-called demon." He slaps his leg with a laugh. "Oh man, I bet they were avoiding you like someone with an incurable disease on the way here."

He curves his head slightly. "Although, the ladies may have a different reaction, judging by the way a certain someone is attached to you."

Hatsune sticks her tongue out at him and Madara lifts his eyes towards the man. "What do you think?"

Yuji pauses for a moment. "You're dangerous alright, but I'm not one to believe the cries of the masses, all I know is if they're looking after you then you must be a friend." He stops his lean and slaps the counter. "And any friend of theirs is a friend of mine. Whelp, you guys own the place, so it's all free as usual. Enjoy your soak!"

Hatsune reluctantly releases Madara, he himself happy to be free of the nuisance as he heads beyond the male curtain with Kaba and Hiroi, and she heads into the female section with Misaki and Mika. Yuji watches them go in, before turning to head into the back, but his vision goes black as something collides with his head.

...

Having followed Kaba to the undressing room. Madara removes his shoes into a shoe locker at the entrance, before removing the rest of his clothes and folding them into baskets on another shelve. "We're done, gonna head-on." Kaba leaves the dressing room with Hiroi.

Madara strings a towel around his waist whilst rolling his heels on the tatami floor. He pinches his nose, sighing. _"It's odd that the technology of this era isn't vastly different from my own."_ His eyes widen from the memory that flashes before him from the depths of his mind. His face contours into a solemn one, the memory was of a battle, a titanic battle between mother and child.

The memories of Kaguya only extend up to the sealing, the effects caused after elude. Yet not being a fool, it's not to difficult to predict the outcome that not only will this village be wiped from existence, but most likely a good portion of life with it during the battle between beings of similar chakra.

This could be enough to separate nations and halt the advancement of humanity for a while, it also means. "These people are already dead." He says with a small smile as he travels beyond the dressing room and into the bathhouse.

 **...**

Beyond the dressing room, a basin stretches across the wall with buckets strung along with it. Kaba and Hiroi are washing up. Madara takes a seat and uses a bucket to pour some water over himself. The water pours down his body, soaking into his hair and onto the floor to drain.

Kaba looks over at the sound of the water and is shocked. _"How did he get a body like that?"_

Dropping another bucket of water, Madara glances from under his hair, the water dripping from his nose as he does. "You do remember, that I don't, right?" He asks with a raised eyebrow.

Kaba winces. "Was I thinking-out-loud?"

It quickly became apparent to Madara that Kaba didn't think out-loud but instead he somehow read his thought. Madara's eyes widen momentarily. With a sharpening look, he stands. "Are you two ready?" He glances at the entrance as if expecting something.

"Yeah, we're ready." Hiroi replies. As they begin to exit four thuggish looking men enter the washroom. Looking to the corner of his vision as he exits behind Kaba and Hiroi, a smile twists onto Madara's lips at this rather interesting development.

For whatever reason, he can read the thoughts of others as if they were his own. Normally, one could sense small amounts of emotion from someone releasing vast amounts of chakra, as chakra is partly made from mental energy, and the mind-state of someone directly affects their chakra, leaving a trace of emotion.

The people of this era possess no such chakra, nor is he particularly skilled in the art of sensing on emotions not directly focused such as killing intent which is blatant.

Ahead of him, Kaba pulls the sliding door leading into the hot-spring open. A bamboo wall divides the sexes, steam twists around the carved black stone that contains the spring.

Entering the boiling hot water leaves them exhaling in relief. The minerals it holds relenting the strain upon already weary muscles. A few minutes is all the peace Madara will have, that is the time it will take before his hands will once again be drenched in blood, it's enough time to learn a little about his new condition.

Madara looks to the other two. "I wish to be alone for a bit" He walks away from them as Kaba and Hiroi give a nod as they separate. Madara goes to a flat rock that rests a few feet below the water level at the other end of the spring. It's a good spot away from the other two, and out of sight.

Madara breaths deeply and looks down at his reflection. The strange symbol that adorns his forehead is seen for the first time, immediately the Rinne-Sharingan comes to mind, it shares many characteristics, a seal perhaps, but that brings another question to mind.

Pulling down an eyelid with his middle and index fingers, he infuses the needed chakra to activate the Sharingan but there is nothing happening.

Why, why is there nothing? A brief moment of slight panic washes over him when he infuses more chakra, enough to activate the Rinnegan, and although staring back at him is indeed the Rinnegan, the addition of six tomoe in each eye, three on each of the two most inner rings made sure it's anything but ordinary. _"Sasuke's eye?"_

That Psuedo Rinnesharingan eye seemed to be capable of using Sharingan abilities in tangent with Rinnegan abilities which would explain the loss of his Sharingan, it must have been absorbed. It's strange, what causes this eye to come into existence, is it the natural evolution to the Rinnegan or a consequence of his new ability?

He rests for a moment, deliberating on a course of action. This eye was given to Sasuke as we all know by the Sage of Six Paths, meaning he had correlation and causation as the only link between Madara and Sasuke, that being the case, his other changes would likely be associated.

But all of it can't be linked, before coming into contact with Hagoromo he already gained that strange ability that allowed him to "absorb the essence?" of Kaguya and Hashirama, which he probably received from Kaguya in someway. Either way, both of those beings exist in this current world, it would be wise to pay them a visit.

He is pulled from his scheming upon hearing the voices of the women talking on the other side as they enter the bathhouse.

…

Hatsune stretches out with a towel around her body, whilst getting into the hot-spring with Mika already having jumped in, completely naked. "It's quiet today." she releases a sigh that she was withholding and continues. "It sucks that I can't show off my body to Ryuu though." She says this while rubbing her hands down her breasts, removing the towel in the process.

Two large objects then push into Hatsune's back, knocking her down. "Oh, you think he'd be looking at you, that's optimistic." Misaki mocks. The towel stretching to a breaking point as it tries to hold two mountains at bay.

She swings upright and confronts her mother. A torrent of jealousy overwhelming her as she's dwarfed in certain areas by the older women. Hatsune's breasts are being pushed down indiscriminately by the superior pair to which the owner of smiles victoriously. How it's even possible that a mother of four could have the body of someone in their twenties pisses her off.

Mika suddenly tackles them both at the hip level. "I want to play too!"

Hatsune pats Mika's head. "At least I can win against you." She replies taking the momentary victory but then she remembers just how she compared at that age and finds that she's dwarfed there as well. She grits her teeth while damning her genetic misfortune.

Misaki says this while stepping into the water. "At that age, you were much flatter if I remember correctly."

"I know that already!" She whines, dropping into the water and blowing bubbles of defeat with a cloud of depression forming above. She grasps hold of her breasts. _"Stupid mother, stupid average boobs, stupid…stupid, ah!"_

Misaki rests a hand on Hatsune's shoulder snapping her out of the cloud. "Hatsune," Hatsune looks up curiously at her mother as she continues. "I think we need to talk."

"About what?" Hatsune asks.

Misaki's cheeks turn slightly red but she maintains an adult aura. "Do you know how s-sex works?" She stammers out.

Hatsune blushes heavily. "W-W-What, why would we need to talk about that?!" She says finding anything other than her mother more appealing to look at.

"You're at that age and I've noticed..." Misaki pauses trying to find her next words. "I mean I understand if you are, you know, interested. He's something special, and he's been nothing but kind and respectful, and around here all you'll find is perverted old men."

Hatsune doesn't really know, the only thing that comes to the mind is the feeling she gets when she's around him. "N-No, I don't know." She's embarrassed through and through.

"You don't understand how you feel, that's normal and nothing to worry about. I don't think you should rush into anything but I lost my virginity around your age to your father and I know how much a man like this can affect you, so I think it's time I explain a little more on the inter-workings on sex, you know, just in case…" Misaki is interrupted.

"What is sex?" Mika asks having eavesdropped.

Hatsune looks to her mother with a worried expression. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to explain, not that she'll understand." Misaki says with a calm expression and so begins "the talk".

 **…**

Having heard enough, Madara shuts out the noise and takes a meditative position on the rock earlier mentioned, infusing a tiny bit of chakra and moving it throughout his body. This time with precise control - scrutinizing, illuminating, but as he has been, keeping it contained within himself to avoid detection, small a chance as that may be.

An expansive cylindrical chamber comes into view, Madara in the middle, so massive this room is that it's difficult to detect the curve and see either side, similarly to detecting the curve of a planet. Beneath him is a crimson-colored water only a few feet deep, absolutely tranquil, that likewise expands out of sight.

It's a valve with an infinitesimally small fraction of chakra flowing through compared to what imaginably could. This place, the walls, and even the water are a representation of the chakra pathways and chakra flowing within, given imagery by their real counterpart.

"This is not possible. How did it become so large and why is the water not moving." He illustrates. Before all this, Madara would come to this place to get a visual on his progress, it was nothing like this, water used to rush by like a raging torrent in building length tube.

He stands atop the water with his mind-expanding towards the greater network at hand, that this massive area is but only a small fraction. He doesn't know why, but something is urging him to do his following actions, like an itch he cannot scratch he feels the need to absorb nature energy.

He pulls in on nature itself, absorbing nature energy as it bends to his will, snapping from day to day activity to become a waterfall, relentless in its flow as it moves into his body. Becoming a Sage, which involves taking nature energy and mixing it with chakra, is an inherently unnatural state despite how ironic that may seem.

All things living and non-living produce nature energy, it is cosmic energy and exists everywhere, in many ways lifeforce is one and the same. However, only living creatures carry a life force, which sustains their life, determines lifespan, amongst other things, it is not, however, the soul of a being.

Creatures are not supposed to take in nature energy that does not come through naturally or belong to them as a Sage does, it often has extreme consequences, like residual memory imposed on the energy from its past inhabitants, such as other creatures like toads and snakes, resulting in deformities and weakened powers, if not death.

Hashirama was able to create the strongest and most pure form of Sage Mode with his delicate control, resulting in minimal outside influence, of course, Madara himself managed this with relative ease after stealing Hashirama's Sage chakra.

A lot of questions about these fundamentals bugged Madara, things he wanted to know, like the difference between nature energy, lifeforce, and a soul? Maybe both lifeforce and souls are formed from nature energy like a compound formed from complex structures or maybe it needs some sort of transformation, maybe they are separate forces altogether.

Perhaps all things possess a soul too, but only beings capable of the higher-level thought can form a true soul in a way that matters, intelligent beings so to speak. Although the next level to that would be maintaining your soul after death without dispersing into nothingness or being sent to some divine realm.

The true burning question to it all this is what created their boundary conditions in the first place, who decided how these energies worked, was it by natural process or was it God-designed? Madara is going to find out even if it takes him an eternity of anguish.

As Madara was in deep thought and absorbing nature energy, Hiroi had stopped mid-conversation with his brother, a face stricken with fear. A cataclysmic affliction is taking place on nature, but he doesn't have time to think or react as a fist collides with the side of the head, landing on the edge of the spring, unconscious.

"What the..." Kaba charges at the assailant with his fist drawn back. "You bastard!" His arms are snatched from the sides and pulled behind by the two other men. Two sharp objects are pressed against his back, bladed weapons on some sort. There are four guys, two holding him, and two others. What did these guys want?

The man that hit Hiroi walks up and grabs him by the chin. "I'll make this real simple for you, boy." He says this with a sickly smile while scratching his fat ass. "I have three men that will kidnap those girls you were with if you don't tell me where this demon is?"

The ones holding him laugh disgustingly. He grits his teeth with a ferocious expression. "You…" He's interrupted as the man clicks his tongue.

"Not the answer I'm looking for. Kill the boy!" The man orders. The last one not holding him moves towards Hiroi with a dagger in hand.

"Stop!' Kaba begs in a defeated tone and his head cast down. "He's around the corner on the other side, just don't hurt my family, please!" A punch is delivered into his abdomen as they drop him. He coughs violently as they head towards the meditating man with various weapons.

Outside of this little conflict, people began to notice flowers wilting to death and trees shedding their leaves, but Madara is too invested in studying his newfound abilities to notice the damage, just as he is unaware of the approaching men.

 _"This is it!"_ He claims in an Ecstasy-like state, just starting to comprehend what this new command over nature energy is – it is clear, incredibly complicated at the same time, two things that most of the time don't fit together. It will take time, decades, maybe longer to understand it all.

He is disturbed as he vaguely feels his shoulder grabbed like an insect is trying to move him, and sure enough, he isn't moving an inch.

With a slow-motion of his hand, at least to him, it was slow, but to that man, a quick blur would be a courtesy. A line of blood spatters off Madara's arm. "Wha-Wha" The man tries to speak but falls short as a bloody diagonal line appears through his chest, sliding in two pieces with a thud. The water soaks up the blood like a dehydrated sponge.

The wind stops blowing as the nature energy stops its flow. He lays his metallic-purple six tomoe Rinnegan eyes upon the men before him and Kaba who peers from around a rock. Madara waves his hand and Kaba slumps down unconscious.

What just happened from the men's perspective seemed impossible, the guy was just sitting there with his eyes closed, and within an instant, he bisected one of his men. "You…You really are a demon!" One of the henchmen yells with wide eyes filled with fear as he bounds his knife at him. With a finger moving in its path, it comes to an abrupt stop, the sound of metal hitting metal.

Madara pinches the blade with another finger. "Those words are thrown around so readily, human, monster, hero, villain..."

"No human could do that!" The attacker counters. Trying to pull his weapon free his attempt is surmounted to moving a mountain. "With just two fingers?!"

Suddenly the man's eyes fill with even greater fear when Madara speaks directly at him. "Silence! It's all just a matter of semantics. Someone could call themselves a hero while walking around killing scores in the name of some justice or God. Someone else could be labeled a villain for trying to stop them."

"~Plenty of humans are monstrous, and plenty of monsters just know how to play human. Just like you, I'm human, isn't that the scariest part."

He releases the knife and stands to his full height as they back away. Madara disappears for just a moment and reappears in front of the rock he just stood upon with a wipe of the air to follow. "I wonder which of you will fight a meaningless struggle against an unavoidable death?" He asks with a raised eyebrow.

A look of sheer terror on all their faces, but none more so than on the leader. "You fools don't just stand there, kill him!" He orders in a panic as he turns his back and runs for dear life.

The henchmen actually listen, a surprising action in Madara's eyes, he figured these men for traitors and cowards, but apparently they have some conviction, even in this weak and pathetic leader? No, probably not him, probably someone else, a real leader and a man of greater power than himself in their eyes.

One the men had moved to stab him in the midsection and had powerlessly broken against his skin in his thought. The man looks up knowing that death is upon him. Madara slaps the head of the man and it snaps to the side, his spine protruding and pushing against the skin as it does.

He slashes his hand through the torso of another, before plunging his other hand into the last and ripping his heart out through the other side. Dropping it to the ground, he pulls his hand out. Before the bodies could even hit the ground he disappears from the spot in a flash.

The leader runs out of there as fast as he can, seeing light he exhales in relief a momentary part of him thinking that he has escaped certain death, but something isn't right, where are his other men, they aren't here. "Did they go in without my order?" He asks in anger.

As he gets beyond the curtain a fist smacks into his nose from around the corner. It took him by surprise and causes him to fall on his back. Looking up with a teary face he sees Yuji standing over him, a black left eye and many bruises all over his body from the beating he had been given at their arrival. "Do you know who I am!"

"No, and frankly I don't care, get out of here, never come back or I'll see you dead!" Yuji demands standing over menacingly, fist clenched tightly, conviction ablaze within his eyes.

Tears roll down his attempt at a proud face. "Fine! But I will be b…" He's interrupted, something is behind him, a cloud of black death behind him grasping out as something penetrates his back to grasp hold of the spin. Blood sprays from his mouth as he lets out a suppressed scream.

Madara appears from the shadows of the curtain lifting the leader into the air with one hand as his other held both Kaba and Hiroi. "Reflect on your cowardice, for it's your last act…" Madara's interrupted by the pathetic worm.

"A-Ah. W-W… Please don't kill me! I never wanted to see anyone hurt, you should go save the women, my men, t-they are rapists. I never gave the order, I swear" If he can just convince this monster to leave him maybe he can crawl away or find someone to take pity and accept a reward in exchange for saving his life.

If one were to look into the female bathing section they would see a bloody misted bath, remains, and also the slightly bruised, unconscious but un-raped women. "They're already dead, as are you." As Madara says this all hope this man perhaps had is shattered into dust and the last words that went through his mind are, oh.

After removing spin and skull with the greatest of ease the corpse is dropped onto the ground with a squelchy thud. Yuji possesses a horrified look but Madara waves his hand over him which causes the man to sink into a deep sleep. Madara sets the other two down next to Yuji. He stood over them for a moment but then something shocking happened.

Suddenly, Madara felt hunger like never before, a vial and repulsive one, the erg for flesh consumed him. The blood covering him is sucked into his skin as if it were a thirsty vampire. He gives in to the hunger, progress is rarely made without doing something morally adverse.

But, he won't eat the ones before him, there are plenty of remains nearby, he just has to collect them which is easy enough for him.

He prostrates his hands out with closed eyes. The mutilated bodies in the area are further mutilated and compressed, even the blood-soaked into the water is pulled into a mist and then a stream of blood that flows into his area like undulating snakes, joining into a singular orb of a reddish color before Madara.

This is sick, it's taboo! What this hunger is, no clue, but he isn't willing to turn down his instincts at these crucial moments of discovery.

He waves the orb into his grasp, pushing it past his lips and swallowing it with a displeased, and disgusted expression. His hunger now satiated, he waits with open eyes, nothing for moments but then out of nowhere he feels a rush. A mist-like vapor flows from him. He can immediately feel that his life-force and physical energy are boosted very slightly.

His bones were breaking repeatedly and healing instantly to his natural healing factor. Although he hasn't used chakra to strengthen his body or in general since he came to this world, due to his physical energy being so high his natural body should still require tremendous force to hurt him, let alone continuously break his bones.

The mist-like vapor exiting his body didn't stop either, nor is he able to control it. "I shouldn't stay here, I'll return to that house for now." He disappears from the spot with the bodies of Mika, Hiroi, Kaba, Misaki, Hatsune, and the body of Yuji moving behind the counter, not a single trace is left of them there, not even their clothes are left.

 **…**

Eyes open, frantically seeking the men that tried to kill them, but nothing, not a single trace.

In fact, they're home, their living room to be exact. It's pitch black suggesting many hours have passed and although they can hear the panicked breaths and clothes being constricted from everyone else, they still can't see each other. "Hold on, I'll try to light the candles." Misaki tries to find them with her arms stretched out to avoid hitting anything.

Then the three candles in the room light simultaneously. They can see each other now, but it's still very dim. "That's better!" Hatsune says while holding onto Mika.

"Yeah, but it wasn't me…" Misaki says.

"I-It was me." A dry, tired, and dark voice sounds from the dark corner closest to the doorway, starlight pours through revealing a tall silhouette of blackness with strange glowing red orbs that move unnaturally around it, but not illuminating much of the body.

Misaki grabs hold of one of the candles to bring it closer. "Ryuu is that you?" Misaki is forcefully stopped by some invisible force. Hatsune and the rest get up to face this imposing figure.

"Don't come any closer." He demands between labored breaths.

Hatsune is confused, why is she not allowed to come closer? "What do you mean?"

"It'll only frighten you." Each breath he takes is deeper and more strained than the last.

"What are we doing back here?" Misaki fights to move forward and she can just barely move a few inches, the light revealing more. "Why do you think we'd be afraid of you?"

Madara is struggling to hold back this girl without killing her, which showed to himself how weak he is right now. "You were attacked, although their goal was me."

"I remember now, you killed those men didn't you. I saw you do it to one as I blacked out." Kaba remembers. "What do you remember Hatsune?"

Hatsune recalls to the best of her abilities. It seemed foggy and unclear but she remembered this. "Some men came into the spring saying horrible things and mother tried to stop them but was hit. A red mist then covered the area and we blacked out."

A pained cough from the corner and Misaki no longer feels compelled. Now free, she moves the candle to illuminate the corner. Everyone gasps at the sight before them. "My God…"

 **XxXx(** **Madara: The New Plan** **)xXxX**


	4. Secrets Unknown

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 **XxXx(Madara:The New Plan)xXxX**

The darkness relents from the ground up as the corner of the room is slowly illuminated by the light of the candle. The residences of the room gasp at the sight revealed to them.

Before them is Madara. His clothes parted in the middle leaving his chest and lower torso exposed. His skin is similar to that of a corpse, gray with blackish undertones, his veins are pronounced and the liquid that flowed through them seems almost like tar.

Red orbs are moving from one point of his body to another seemingly fighting off this – infection. The light moves further up to reveal the two horns that protrude from the hair, sticking high and mighty ten inches or so, scales - gray in color - cover them like velvet covers deer antlers.

"My god…" Kaba says in a fright. His appearance is so demonic and has changed so much that it's a surprise that he resisted the erg to run altogether.

Madara Leans his back against the wall behind him finding momentary comfort in its solid support as he clutches with a singular cough. The poor lighting creates an eery shadow over him. He remains silent, his sharp purple eyes shining out from the dark.

"W-What are we doing back here?" Kaba asks with a quizzical expression. "What happened to you?"

Madara begrudgingly removes himself from the wall. The orbs follow as he stumbles towards Kaba. He stops to look down upon him before turning to continue into the more natural starlight of the entrance that leads to the garden with a hand resting on its frame.

He looks into the star-filled sky breathing heavily as he sighs. "I'm not this person I have claimed to be, nothing I have told you is the truth, but that…was for the best. The easiest way to explain this to you is that I'm a being of limitless power, from another land, far from here."

All wonder what he actually means. _"A land far from here."_ Is he from some distant land or village? _"A being of immense power."_ Is he some deity or demon as the villagers say?

"What do you mean?" Hatsune stammers finding his words questionable.

"You would not understand what I really am, the difference in our knowledge is too great. But…" He turns around to face them. "I can try to elaborate. You see, I've lived a long time, relative to those present. I thought I knew much, however, events have shown the flaws in my ideology, although ironically in truth it eludes me."

He smiles before correcting himself. "Well, that's not entirely true, perhaps I'm just stubborn. Following?" Noting the dumbfounded stares he takes that in the negative. "I figured. Well besides that as you can see, my appearance has changed. These 'injuries' were delivered by something more then I, at least that's my speculation."

"Are you a demon? You have the horns of a devil." Hiroi asks finding them rather daunting, they are like the symbol of a demon incarnate.

Madara raises an eyebrow with an almost unnoticeable smile. _"I wonder…"_ This child and his special ability it all seems like a little too much coincidence. "You may not remember but during our visit to the hot spring we were attacked, apparently these would-be attackers believed me a demon and as such sought to kill me in the name of some retribution."

"~This proved to be their undoing, as all who have ever entered conflict with me have encountered. But I am no demon I swear, I did something shortly before I brought you back, something I probably shouldn't have, although maybe not. It either revealed my affliction or acted as a trigger. Either way, the problem was there, better to face it sooner than later."

"What was this something you shouldn't have done?" Hiroi knows what Madara is talking about, at least he thinks he does, he felt it back then, the cries of nature, as if the life was being sucked out from the world around him and something horrible was about to happen. Is this affliction the revenge of the world he wondered? "This affliction, what is it exactly?

"Telling you would be pointless. I've been trying to find a way to revert the damage whilst you all slept, but, my endeavors have proven less than successful." The energy that he discovered earlier caused some sort of reaction, like a tripwire, at the moment, he assumes the trap to be from the reaper that he took control over in order to come here.

The reaper is a being beyond his comprehension but it seems to be held down by some rules, otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to control it in the first place and it would simply come here and kill him, something created that creature and set rules upon it, control over life and death was simply a job given to it by a master. How small he felt now.

This didn't matter, at least not for now. He's still unable to control the energy from leaving his body in its misty form, and after hours of visualization and faulty attempts he finally understood that to conceptualize this energy would take something different altogether, it isn't chakra, not in the form he understands it at least.

Of course, it could be all for not if stopping this energy doesn't stop this infection and he's limited in what he can do, this energy is in some way connected to physical energy that he knows as it's draining him of it, so stopping it will be a benefit regardless. He has a solution though, a seal, one to suppress any and all kinds of energy from escaping.

This seal will use the laws of space to put up a thin barrier around his body to stop anything from entering or leaving, in case this doesn't work he also designed the sealing array to layer in a chakra barrier formation as he has already confirmed that chakra can interact with the energy and even stop it for a time but it in some way it breaks free and stopped working.

He's been working on the sealing array for hours in this world and studying the theory for decades in the other world in hopes of creating an indestructible defense in his younger days, subjective as that is seeing how he was over one hundred years old at the time.

Unfortunately, he failed to separate the laws of space and time to simply use space, as a result, he created the barrier and was indestructible, but the time law affected him. He never expected that time and space were so intertwined as they ended up being. The consequences were enormous.

Back then, the law of time was so beyond his comprehension, with no way to control the time it froze the space around him and separated him from the world's space-time as soon as he activated the array, he couldn't see past the layer of space-time that he created, he was effectively a statue in a realm of no space-time, not that he knew that at the time.

As a result, he was like that for nine hundred years in which he could do nothing. His frustration and boredom grew so much that it pushed him to awaken the Rinnegan and gain a lucky ability that allowed him to briefly surpass that level of space-time to get out of the projection array.

Luckily, he planned for something unexpected and placed a practice array on the ground in a projection format around his throne and not directly on his body, otherwise, even that powerful ability would be pointless to remove him from that trapped technique in such an early stage of development.

To his shock, once he had escaped, nothing had changed around him, everything was exactly as he left it hundreds of years ago. It was then that he realized that although time seemed to went by for him, the world around him stood still waiting for him to awake, either that or time went on and he simply appeared at the time he entered, both are possible.

If he had known that it would have happened that way, he would have prepared some sort of way to train while in that state. There must be a way to do it, he sadly lacks the knowledge, but imagining it would immensely stimulate only the most patient of beings, one could get hundreds, no forget that, even billions or trillions of years of training in a single moment on the outside!

Now it was time to try again. The consequences are still the same if he fails but his understanding has recently improved thanks to his travels through space-time with the reaper he was able to improve upon his most powerful Rinnegan ability, if all goes well, he should be able to separate the laws of space and time. Allowing him to perfect his indestructible armor.

Madara looks up from his deep thought. He makes his way to the exit, setting his hand on the frame of the door to rest momentarily. "You've had a taxing day and it's late. I'll be taking my leave soon after I mend my wounds. I have to burden you further until then."

He lifts his hand from the frame and begins to walk out and towards the garden. However, before he gets halfway, a hand suddenly grabs hold of his wrist. He signs. It's the teenage girl.

"I can't speak for everyone, but I want to help you!" Hatsune implores and deepens the pull. "You can't just leave like that!"

"Listen." He speaks in a calm yet clearly annoyed tone as he pulls his hand away before continuing without looking back. "Do not mistake me for a good person. I do not warrant your concern. People have a tendency to get attached too quickly, you don't know anything about me. I am leaving soon and there is nothing you can do about it."

Madara turns to face them. "Although it may have been short or seemingly ordinary when I ate at your table and engaged in mundane conversation, I think I saw a glimmer of what it's like to be a part of a normal family. My appearance has caused you trouble and for that, I'm sorry. But I am not without gratitude for what you've done for me, what currency does this world use?"

"Currency? You think we want money!" Hatsune is hurt that Madara could think that she's someone who would seek money for a good deed.

Madara didn't have time to waste here but he felt he owed something to this family, if she wouldn't tell him he will simply find out himself, he expanded his sense through the ground and everything in a hundred-mile radius. Everyone, for the most part, seemed to hold onto some silver coin, with fewer holding a gold coin or two.

Gold must hold more value in this land due to its rarity amongst the populace, silver seems to be a common resource. There are also tons of copper coins, much more than silver so he assumed that was the lowest currency, considering that copper is plentiful in the ground, it shouldn't have any value but they're formed into coins with an insignia on it.

That intrigued him because it meant that there is some sort of ruling force such as an established empire or ruling lord to turn a plentiful resource into a currency with value. The family he was taken in by has mostly silver in the thousands, but also two hundred thousand copper coins, and thirty golden coins in the household.

"I see, I can sense that these copper, silver, and gold coins are the currency of this land." Madara commands one of the truth-seeking orbs floating around to move into his hand. "I'm trying to undervalue your help by giving you money but I simply feel indebted to you're family and I don't have the time to repay you any other way, this is easy for me so I hope you'll accept."

The orb leaves his hand and goes to the ground in front of him to quickly form a cube that is one meter on each of its four sides. The family is stunned when the cube changes to a cube of solid gold. Madara touches the cube and it explodes into a heap of perfectly shaped gold coins. The amount is seemingly countless as it spills everywhere like a liquid.

Kaba drops to his knees as he touches the coin lightly. "My God, with this much we could buy our way out of the lord's domain!" Kaba looks up to Madara with a face full of tears. "Thank you, thank you, with this much we can escape the oppression of that bastard and maybe even get into a large city under sect protection. I may even be able to join a minor sect."

Madara's glad that Kaba is so happy with such a small gift, hopefully, it will more likely push the others to accept and they look happy with this gift, apparently, the lord of this land is cruel and with this amount they can buy their freedom or something like that. All it cost him to make that was a truth-seeking orb.

Admittedly, a single truth-seeking orb is nearly impossible to obtain. They're composed of all elements and Yin and Yang. You need Six Path's Sage Mode and the Rinnegan; the body of the sage provides Yang and Six Path's Sage chakra and the eyes of the sages provide Yin and the other elemental elements, together all things are formed.

Another way of looking at it is that all the other things formed from the truth-seeking orb and he's simply forming the elements back into their original form. This was something he considered for a while and will test the truth-seeking orb with his new power after the sealing is over and done with.

Most of the family is ecstatic about the exuberant amount of gold, but Hatsune and her mother look very apprehensive. "This is too much, we don't need it. All we did was help someone in need, we never expected anything in return." Misaki grabs Kaba from the gold. "You can use this gold to buy your way in this world, please take it."

Kaba tries to say something in protest but is stopped by a sharp look from his mother. "I made this gold in front of you and you still think it has value to me? Ridiculous, I don't want it. You can do whatever you want with it. My debt to you is paid if you feel it is too much then repay it by leaving me alone." They don't move, they just stand there ready to protest again.

Madara's rage grew. "Go, before I lose what little patience I have and show you what kind of a person I really am!" He turns around and continues on his way.

The harsh tone and the threat to their life shook Hatsune the most. She moves to grab his shoulder again, only to have Kaba grab her arm. "Don't!" Kaba speaks with a look of reservation and fear.

She resists against his hold. "Let me go!" She howls in frustration as she breaks free. "Fine! If you want to put up a lie like that then go die for all I care." She screams this with so much anger her balance is almost thrown off as she swings around storms off to her room, leaving behind her stunned family.

Hiroi is the last one remaining as everyone heads to bed. He looks back with a concerned and thinking gaze before heading to bed as well, finally leaving Madara to himself once again.

Madara drifts his hand through his hair with a sigh. He can't help but feel exhausted dispensing with people when killing isn't involved. As he exits the garden into the woods that surround a majority of the house towards his sealing array, he thinks about what to do after this, at best this will be a temporary fix.

He's already tried to transform his body back into the pure nature energy state that the Ten-Tails is composed of however that failed and bones and cells still continued to break and tear apart and the infection continued to grow in correlation. He's tethered to this mortal body and all its problems.

He hasn't completely exhausted his ideas to stop this but he's quickly running out. If he can't stop this then his greatest fear is that he will lose this body. Seeing how he can persist his soul after death this won't kill him but he'll be pulled up to a different realm and only return through chakra temporarily, limiting the impact he can have on the world.

He will also be in the hands-on the reaper, who's most likely waiting for him with an eager grin. One thing is for sure, he can't lose his physical body and if he can't save himself he must search for outside help. The Uzumaki clan doesn't exist this far back but the books in their library show references to strange techniques being practiced many thousands of years back.

It's a stretch but Madara knows that is his only lead with their knowledge. Find the precursor to the Uzumaki clan's secret techniques that surpasses all other clans of his time.

He reaches the sealing array after fifteen or so minutes. His thoughts drift to the boy. He hasn't encountered that type of ability in his life since he came to this world. If one of the first people he's met has some power that he's never seen then it's likely that there are others like him. " _The boy doesn't seem aware of his ability either."_ Madara thinks to himself.

Having put that to the back of his mind it is time to finish the seal and begin. He takes a finger to his wrist and slices downwards along the vein as the skin splits apart and blood drips down to his fingers. He squats down to finish the seal. The seal will have three phases: the projection phase, the detachment phase which has two steps, and the transference phase.

…

Within the shared room of Hiroi and Mika, Kaba brings them to bed, often tucking the aforementioned girl in. Kaba had just finished putting the gold in the family treasury room. It took a long time even with buckets and it was very heavy, but he wasn't going to let this opportunity go to waste, even if his mother and sister didn't like it he knows that their wrong to be so foolish.

Kaba had also already made sure Hatsune went to bed and didn't do anything foolish; that girl hasn't acted rationally since she got back and was worried she'd try to go out to find Madara. He sits on the bedside of his little sister tucking in the sheets before kissing her on the head. "Sleep well." Kaba soothes.

Hiroi rolls over in his bed to look over from the other side of the room. "Are we just going to do nothing?"

"What can we do?" Kaba pauses as he looks down before continuing in a low whisper. "I...look, nothing can be done. I don't think he'll kill us but even still I don't know anything about what he has, it's not a disease I've seen, it's just not natural." He rubs the back of his sleeping younger sister. "I can't afford to lose my reason for living. I will always put my family first."

"You're…!" Hiroi is interrupted by Kaba.

"All I know is this money can change our life!" Kaba brings his finger to his palm. "We can get away from the regional lord and join a sect and train together as brothers. Hatsune, Mika, and Mom won't have to worry ever again, they'll be safe in the city and we'll get strong enough to make our way in this world like dad did before us."

"Dad's dead!" Hiroi rises from his bed. "Why did he bothering making his way in this world only to die and leave us here with essentially nothing?" Hiroi asks rather upset.

"The Hiroi I know would never say that about dad!" Kaba could feel the trembling and sniffling of Mika, she's awake and crying but scared enough to pretend to be asleep. "You worshiped dad, I did too, his strength was immeasurable, he could cut dozens of men down with a single swing of his sword..."

Kaba can't finish as Hiroi jumps in. "Then why is he dead and not here to protect us from the lord moving in to tax and starve our people to death, so many of our friends are dead because of that bastard and his goons that raid the town weekly to take whatever that catches their eye! We've survived by paying them a tribute of are crops and silver like sheep."

"I don't know!" Kaba grabs the ridge of his brow and lets out a long sigh. "I'm going to tell you something, I don't think dad's dead either, I never did. I know I always told you that he was and to move on because that was what was best at the time, we had to focus on survival, but now with this, we can find him or at least get an answer to what happened."

Hiroi can't believe what he is hearing. This is the first time that anyone but him had said anything about father still being alive, he thought he was the only one to not give up. "Do you really think we have what it takes to join a sect, even a minor sect isn't easy to get into, where would we even start?"

Kaba reaches into his pocket and pulls out a purple medallion with a triangular symbol on it. "Father was an elder of a sect! Dad always kept his past somewhat secret and I don't know which sect it was but I do know that it's in the same city he disappeared in. With this sect medallion and our father's name, they'll give us special consideration!"

"Brother, that's genius! We can also search for information about dad's disappearance while we train." Hiroi gets out of bed completely. "Wait! Do you think the sect would be able to cure Ryuu?"

Kaba nods in affirmation. "Yeah I think so, I heard that they have healers that can heal almost any disease far past my knowledge and the masters in a major sect can even bring back the dead I hear." He recalls some info he learned from the journal of his father.

"We have to tell Ryuu then, let's go!" Hiroi grabs his brother by the hand and both run out of the room to find Madara.

 **XxXx(Madara:The New Plan)xXxX**


End file.
